Lost and found
by Lorelei Candice Black
Summary: Bella and August were in love until he went to help Emma break the curse, asking B to stay behind, where she'd be safe. S02E18, she has had no news from August since before the curse was broken and so she comes to Storybrook to look for him. Rating to be safe. Emma/ Neal, Bella/ August (past) and Bella/ Hook (Future)
1. Chapter 1

**_Lost and Found_**

_Once Upon a Time / Twilight_

_Neal / Emma_

_Bella / August (past); Bella / Hook_

_Set soon after Season 2 episode 18. A few facts change about August but it's explained._

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><p>For someone who had never stepped foot in Storybrook, Bella knew her way around pretty well. She parked her car close to the sheriff's station, where she was told she'd be able to find Emma Swan and started to look around. Not many people were in the streets but since it was the middle of the afternoon, she guessed that they were probably at work. She knew who she was looking for, there was no need for her to waste any time, especially since the man she loved could be in danger or worst... She shook her head, refusing to even allow the thought that he might already be dead to settle in her mind.<p>

The front doors were opened so she entered.

"Hello? I'm looking for Emma Swan." Bella called out.

Suddenly, a blond woman fitting August's description of the Savior and who seemed her age appeared with Prince Charming by her side. Emma and her father, Bella guessed. As she looked at the Prince by the Savior's side, Bella tried to remember that he was David, not James. The evil Prince who had killed her father's giant friends got the death he deserved. This twin was the good one, the one with a pure heart who married Snow White.

"Can we help you? I'm Emma Swan. This is David." Emma asked, clearly suspicious to see a new face here.

"I know who you are Emma... I... I'm looking for August... When he came here to try to right his wrongs and help you break the curse, he asked me to stay away from Storybrook because he was worried for my safety, he didn't want me to risk my life... he knew that if the Evil Queen found out who I was, she'd kill me like she did my parents. But... He hasn't given me any news since before the curse was broken and magic was brought back... I'm worried..." Bella tried to explain the best way possible.

"You know then..." David noticed.

"I do... I... My story is a strange one, I'll explain later... I... I'm sorry, I'm being rude... I totally forgot to introduce myself. My name is Bella Swan. Well, Isabella really but I like Bella better. My parents were from the Enchanted Forest and escaped in this land shortly after the Evil Queen cast her curse, right before it went in action and started taking people away. I will tell you everything later if you want to know my story but I need to know what's happened to August... He... We... I love him and I'm worried... He called me every day until a couple of days before the curse was broken. I knew it was broken because I felt it. I have magic too. Anyway, I waited a couple of weeks, thinking that maybe he was busy reuniting with his father and his friends but I got too worried to wait and decided to come and look into it myself." Bella explained.

"I knew you looked familiar... You're that Bella... I saw... He had a picture of you in his wallet and another one with his typewriter... He told me that you were his girlfriend, that you were very serious... True Love..." Emma remembered.

"Yes... Please... Tell me that he's okay..." Bella pleaded as David and Emma looked down for a minute.

"Well... sort of..." David replied.

"What do you mean, sort of? Was he hurt?" Bella asked, worried and tears already appearing in his eyes.

"I... It actually just happened... Apparently, breaking the curse didn't change his state, he stayed wooden and went to hide in the forest, ashamed... I'm guessing that's why he didn't call you either. He was afraid that you and his father would be disappointed in him. he didn't tell anyone where he was or what had happened. Today, we learned that he was there and so we went to look for him but he was at the station, trying to reach us... I don't know why or who but he was trying to warn us about something, someone... By the time we arrived, it was too late, he was mortally wounded... he managed to warn us that there was a danger but he didn't have the time to say from whom..." Emma explained.

"He's dead?" Bella asked, crying with both hands over her mouth.

"Well... The Blue fairy arrived..." David intervened.

"She can't bring people back from the dead, it's one of the laws of magic. Even the Dark One is not that powerful..." Bella shook her head.

"I know... But... I don't know how, maybe he wasn't totally dead yet... He had risked his life to warn us, he had been truthful, brave and unselfish." Emma started to say but Bella cut her with a hopeful smile on her face.

"She managed to bring him back!"

"There was a catch though..." David frowned.

"What do you mean?" Bella asked them both, not understanding their embarrassed faces.

"Well... he's back to being alive and a real boy but... He's a boy." Emma said, hoping to make her point clear.

"A boy? What do you mean exactly?" Bella asked, afraid of the answer she would get.

"August was turned back into Pinocchio, the 8 years old little boy who escaped the curse 28 years ago." David finished.

"He... He's a boy? Does he... Oh God..." Bella didn't know what to do or what to say, she felt lost.

Somehow, knowing that he was alive and a young boy was worst that if he had died. She was happy that he was still alive and she was happy for Gepetto who had his son back but she was devastated for loosing her love. They were planning a future together already and now it was all gone. She felt her knees starting to go weak as she cried but she didn't fall down. David and Emma grabbed her under the shoulders and helped her sit down.

"I'm sorry... I know it can't be easy... I wish there was something I could do to help you..." Emma told her.

"I have nothing now... I've lost the man I loved, with whom I was planning a future... The Evil Queen killed my mother when she snicked in her castle to try and free her brother, the Huntsman. Then when I was 10, my father came in town to try and get his heart back and free him from Regina but she murdered him as well... I'm all alone..." Bella cried.

"Graham was your uncle?" Emma asked her.

"Yes, he was... But I doubt he even knew about me. He was under the Queen's control for too long..." Bella shook her head.

"He's... I don't know if you know but... " Emma started to say but Bella cut her off:

"He's dead, I know. I used my magic to receive the Mirror in my house after my father died. Regina crushed his heart and murdered him like she murdered everyone in my life..." Bella whispered, still crying.

"We don't think she has anything to do with what happened to Pinocchio today..." David informed her.

"It doesn't make it any less painful." Bella shook her head.

"Come on, you can't stay here. Come with us to our loft, we'll figure things out there." David offered and Bella agreed, feeling like she had nothing left to fight for, nothing she could do to make her life any better.

"You're not alone Bella. August was my friend and I know how much he loved you. I'm here for you." Emma told the young woman as she guided her to her parent's home.

.

When they arrived in the loft, Emma quickly introduced Bella and told them what little they knew about her.

"I'm so sorry Bella... I can't even begin to imagine the kind of pain you must be in right now..." Snow said while Emma went to prepare some hot chocolate, hoping it would help Bella mourn.

"I've lost everything now... I fought so hard not to give up after Regina murdered my father, to keep hope that happy endings did exist... When I met August, I thought it was it, my happy ending... My future... And now... Now I have nothing, not even a house to live in because it was repossessed... Apparently I forgot to pay some taxes after my father died 18 years ago and it was too late to pay anything... I don't know what to do or where to go... All I own is in my car..." Bella cried.

"Well, you can always stay in Storybrook. You're from the Enchanted Forest, you'll fit in perfectly." David offered.

"And you can get a room at Granny's until you find a place of your own." Henry added with an encouraging smile.

"Do you think he still has memories of me?" Bella asked them, here eyes on Emma.

"I don't think so... We can always ask him but he didn't seem to remember much..." Emma shook her head.

"I... I think I need to see him... I want to meet his father too." Bella asked.

"I'll call Marco, I mean Gepetto and try to explain things to him, ask him if we can meet up somewhere." David nodded before he stood up and went in the other room with his phone.

He came back about 15 minutes later.

"I tried to explain everything as well as possible. He can join us at Granny's in a couple of hours." He informed them.

"Thanks." Bella nodded while Henry flipped through the pages of his storybook.

"Here Bella, I think it's about your father. It's not much though, only a small paragraph." Henry said as he pointed to the book.

"What does it say?" Bella asked.

"As the queen cast her curse, overwhelmed by the feeling of dark satisfaction that her future success brought her, she didn't notice the recently widowed Charlie Swan, who had been burying his wife Renee. It didn't take him long to recognize the Evil Queen and to understand what she was doing. He wanted to put his sweet and beloved baby girl down and rush to kill the evil woman who had caused his wife's death and was mind controlling his brother in law, the Huntsman, but he knew that he didn't have time for that now. He had to think about his daughter and her future. He didn't want her to grow up under the curse so he rushed home and packed their possessions as quickly as he could. When he put the jar full of magic beans his old friends the Giants had given him in his bag, he took one out, closed the bag and opened a portal. As he jumped, he couldn't stop thinking about the Evil Queen, what she had done and the fact that she needed to be stopped." Henry read.

"That's must explain why you arrived here, you simply followed the queen." Snow nodded.

"That's how my father told me it happened. Is there anything about my mother? It would have been a few months earlier, shortly after Snow and Charming's wedding." Bella asked, trying to change her mind from her recent loss.

Henry turned a few pages more, concentrating and he suddenly nodded and started reading again.

"Renee Swan knew that she risked not only her life but also her unborn daughter's life. Charlie didn't want her to risk it but she couldn't help it. She had learned from one of the dwarfs, Sneezy, that her brother was the Evil Queen's prisoner. For years Renee had feared he had gotten killed in one of his hunts but learning that the Evil Queen held his heart and controlled his every move, forcing him to be her lover was even worst and she had to do something about it. She had to try and save him. If she had magic, Renee wasn't as powerful as the Queen and she knew that she wouldn't be able to survive a fight so she tried to be as discrete as possible as she walked in the dark corridors of the castle that should have belonged to Snow White. She arrived in the Queen's chamber in the middle of the night, thinking the evilest woman would be asleep and that she'd be free to search the room. She didn't count on her reaction upon seeing her brother in the queen's bed. He was awake, looking miserable, like he hated what he had done and wasn't capable of doing anything against it. When he spotted his sister, the noble Huntsman who had saved Snow White's life shook his head frenetically, telling silently his sister to leave but it was too late, Regina was awake and didn't waste anytime before she a ball of dark magic at Renee. Smirking triumphantly upon seeing the pale body on the floor, Regina reminded her slave that he would never escape her and ordered him to get rid of his sister's body. Reluctantly, he did what was asked of him. As he carried his sister to the woods, he noticed that she was alive and starting to regain some colors and understood that she wouldn't make it past childbirth.

'My daughter is keeping me alive.' Renee whispered to her brother once he put her down to explain why she was still breathing.

'I'm sorry... How will you name her?' He asked her.

'Like our mother.' Renee replied. She wanted to say more, anything really but the Huntsman looked behind him, being called back by the Evil Queen, his master, his torturer." Henry was pale, like he finally realized that the mother he tried to keep believing in was really an evil person.

"She was 5 months pregnant when it happened... That's how she understood that I would have great magic and would be powerful." Bella explained.

"Are you the product of True Love, like Emma?" Snow asked her.

"Yes, but both of my parents had pure hearts and magic as well and I inherited that from them as well. It makes me a little bit more powerful than Emma." Bella replied.

"A lot more if we consider that I don't have much experience with mine." Emma smiled.

"I can teach you how to control it and how to use it if you want." Bella offered and Emma nodded, already trusting the young woman.

They all wanted to know more about the newcomer but they knew that it wasn't the right time since she would probably have to talk about her life later when she met Marco. They decided to give her some time before they started asking questions.

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><p><strong>This is it for the first part. I don't know how long it will be... It will go all the way to Neverland though, at least.<strong>

**I'm publishing this chapter now to know what you think of it. The length of the rest of the story and its content will depend on your reviews and reactions. I'm already working on chapter 2 right now.**

**Review please?  
><strong>

**Lorelei Candice Black**


	2. Chapter 2

_**2**_

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><p>Bella stayed with the Charming family until it was time to meet up with Marco and Pinocchio for dinner at Granny's. She knew that they all wanted to know more about her, Henry was literally bursting with excitement, but they were giving her the time she needed to sort through her thoughts and she was grateful for that. She would have to tell the hardest part at Granny's... Marco would probably want to know how she met August... Taking in a big breath, she forced a smile at Emma, Henry, Snow and David before she followed them inside, hoping that it wouldn't be too hard on her.<p>

"Marco, thank you for coming." David exclaimed as he went to greet an old man Bella recognized from one of August's drawings.

"Of course, it was the least I could do..." Marco nodded, his eyes lingering on Bella.

"Hi! I'm Isabella Swan... Bella... I've heard a lot about you." Bella told him.

Marco smiled and nodded, calling his boy over. A cute little red haired boy rushed from his seat and Bella kneeled. The smile he directed at her was the same one her August had given her the first time they met and it made everything harder for her.

"Hello Pinocchio, do you recognize me? Do you know who I am?" Bella asked him, her voice shaking with emotion.

It wasn't her August, he was definitely not the man she loved anymore but there was still parts of him, like his eyes, his smile... It was very hard on her and heart breaking to watch for everyone else.

"No, I'm sorry. Was I supposed to?" He asked her and she tried to stop her tears from falling in front of the boy.

"My name is Bella. It's nice to meet you." Bella whispered.

"You too... Are you okay Miss Bella? You look sad..." The little boy asked her and Bella got up and turned around, trying to dry her tears before the little boy saw them.

"I'm sorry..." Marco told her and she shook her head.

"Hey, why don't Pinocchio and I go over there to eat alone, give you guys privacy to talk some more?" Henry suggested and Emma nodded, agreeing that it would be easier.

"You don't want to tell him...?" Marco asked.

"Tell him what? That we were in love and speaking of getting married before he was... rebooted into a little boy? I think he's better of not knowing. It would only confuse him." Bella shook her head.

"You're probably right... Come, let's talk." Marco offered gently.

"It's nice to meet you, despite the circumstances. August told me a lot about you. He loved you and his worst fear was to disappoint you." Bella said, shaking the hand of the man who could have become her father in law if things had been different.

"So, how did you and my boy meet?" Gepetto asked her as they settled in a booth and ordered some food.

"I was in Thailand, looking for a man named _The Dragon_ who was supposed to have magic. I wanted to see if there was anything he could teach me that I didn't know yet about magic. August was living there, he had a girlfriend though it wasn't love that brought them together. When Emma decided to stay in Storybrook, Auguts started to turn back into wood, his left leg was the first thing that changed. Someone told him about The Dragon, he broke up with his girlfriend, packed a bag and left. We found ourselves in the same bus, going to the same adress." Bella started.

"It was love at first sight, right? Auguts told me this part." Emma guessed.

"Yes, it was. We had about an hour and a half before we got to The Dragon's place and we talked... I started by asking him where he was going and he just told me the address, I told him I was going to the same place and I couldn't help myself, I told him why. I told him my story. He told me his, his real name, his life, his mistakes and the things he was most ashamed of like leaving Emma behind when he ran away from the first group home they were put into. When we finally arrived in front of the Dragon's place, I told him that whatever he'd be given would only be a temporary solution, that he'd have to right his wrongs to be a real man again." Bella told them.

"He didn't listen to you, did he?" Marco asked her with a small smile.

"Well, he thought that I was right, but he still wanted the Dragon's cure, even if it was temporary. He wanted it to give him more time... I had an appointment with the Dragon and he didn't so I gave him mine and told him I'd be at a small dinner down the street if he wanted to see me again. An hour later he joined me and told me that he needed to find a lot of money... It was the middle of the afternoon and we kept on talking until the dinner closer around midnight. We went to my hotel together and spent our first night together... It was fast, I had never acted so fast in my life but it just felt so right... The next morning, we parted ways. I had a few people I needed to see to help him and he wanted to try and convince the Dragon to give him the cure he was looking for. We planned to meet in the hotel room again before dinner... The rest I didn't see happen but... August had breakfast in a cafe in front of the Dragon's place and saw a woman there that he had met in the waiting room of the Dragon..."

"Something tells me that he wasn't a good boy there..." Marco shook his head.

"When she went to the bathroom, he took her envelope full of money, the one she was going to use to buy her own dose of the potion, and he ran to the Dragon, paid for his cure and was about to drink it in an alley when the woman found him and attacked him to take it back. I don't know what she used to fight him but it wasn't natural and August was baldy injured when he came back to me but I healed him the best I could and I showed him the money I had collected... I had spent the day selling some magic items to pay for his potion... We went back to the Dragon together." Bella explained.

"So he got the cure?" David asked.

"No. When we arrived, the Dragon was dead on the floor. The woman August had tried to steal from had done it."

"How do you know this?" Emma asked her.

"In order to make the potion, the Dragon asked for a personal item filled with emotions. He only gives it back when you pay for the potion. That woman had given him a picture of her grandmother, August a string from when he was a puppet. When we found his body, August noticed that the picture of the woman's grandmother was gone, meaning that she had come back even though she had gotten the potion from him. Only a couple of hours had passed since August saw him so... It was clear but we couldn't do anything about it so we left, came back to America... August went to see Neal quickly to inform him of where he was going and we went back to my father's home. We stayed a few months there, happy, planning a future together until the wood started to spread again and he decided it was time to come here, begging me to stay behind so I wouldn't be in danger." Bella finished telling them.

"You keep saying '_that woman_'... Doesn't she have a name?" Emma asked curiously, the sheriff side of her taking over while Marco held Bella's hand to show her support.

"Tamara, her name was Tamara." Bella replied and Emma paled.

"It doesn't mean anything Emma." David warned his daughter.

"What? What's going on?" Bella aksed.

"Neal's fiancée is named Tamara." Emma replied.

"Well, you can show her to me later and I'll tell you if it's her but... It would make sense... If it's her, if she's here, then I think we know who killed August." Bella replied.

"But why would she want to hurt my boy?" Marco asked her.

"For the same reason she killed the Dragon. The Tamara that killed the dragon wanted to destroy all magic. I'd think Storybrook is the perfect place to achieve something like that." Bella explained.

"Well, we don't know it's her until you see her. Let's not think of the worst." Snow suggested and they all seemed to more or less agree.

"Why didn't August come to Storybrook sooner?" Marco asked Bella to bring the conversation back to his son.

"Well, he was afraid of what he'd do once he saw you, to begin with. He knew that you wouldn't know who he was and he was afraid of how it'd fell. He also didn't know if he could do it or even how to do it... Getting a non believer to believe was hard and he didn't know if he'd be able to do it. And he knew that once he came, he could never come back, that he could get killed by Regina and he didn't want to leave me yet. We had just found each other, love at first sight, True Love... None of us wanted to risk giving it up so soon... He also knew that being with me was what prevented him from turning all wood faster." Bella explained.

"Because of the True Love you shared." Marco guessed with a soft smile.

"Yes..." Bella agreed, saddened at the past tense he had used.

"I'm sorry... It must be very hard for you..." Marco started.

"It's a confusing feeling. I'm happy for the fact that he can grow up with you and that you have your boy back but I'm sad because I lost him and I'll never get him back... For me, it's worst than if he had died... It's hard to process, to accept..." Bella tried to explain.

"I understand... If you want to spent time with him though, get to know the little boy he is again, you can. I'll be more than happy to..." Marco started to offer.

"It's nice of you but I think that it would only bring me more pain." Bella shook her head with more tears in her eyes.

"So, David tells me that you're from the Enchanted Forest as well?" Marco asked her and she nodded.

"Yes, I am."

"Are you by any chance related to Charlie Swan?" Marco asked her.

"He was my father. Did you know him?"

"He was a friend of mine, yes. His magic helped me locate the enchanted wood I used to make my boy." Marco explained.

"Well, you'll be sad to learn that he was killed when I was ten. He came in town to try and free my uncle from the queen's grasp and she murdered him." Bella replied.

"It is, indeed, sad news. I'm sorry for your loss... Especially since your mother..." Marco stopped.

"How do you know?" David asked him.

"I was their friends. She knew that the only thing keeping her alive after she faced the Evil Queen was being pregnant with her child. If Bella is alive, then her mother died." Marco replied.

"You'd be right." Bella nodded sadly.

"You're not alone, child. No matter what, you're part of my family. My boy loved you. I remember, when we were cursed, he spent some time with me and told me about you... He really loved you... he confessed to me that he was going to propose. Even if the circumstances change things, you're still welcome in my family." Marco told her, smiling invitingly at the woman that almost became his daughter.

"Thank you Marco, it's very nice of you." Bella smiled.

"See, you're not alone. You'll make friends quickly." Emma told Bella as she gave her a quick hug.

"You'll fit right in, here." David added.

Suddenly, Pinocchio let his presence known by his father's side and pointed his finger so the older man would bend a little. The little boy was whispering but they all heard what he was asking anyway, maybe because there wasn't many people around, or maybe because Pinocchio didn't speak very low.

"Papa, Henry said that Bella was sad. Can I buy her more fries to make her happier?" Pinocchio asked his father while Bella half chuckled, half cried at this sweet gesture.

"Of course." Gepetto smiled fondly at his son.

Pinocchio smiled at his father, then at Bella and ran to Ruby. A couple of minutes later, Ruby came back with fries, telling Bella that it was from a _secret admirer_.

"I'm afraid he's not making things easier for you..." Marco shook his head when he noticed Bella's face.

"It's okay... It might take me a while but I'll get over it... I hope." Bella shook her head.

"It's like he can't help but care for you..." David whispered.

"I know... I... If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and ask someone if they have an available room for me. It'll give me the chance to calm myself. I'll be right back." Bella informed them before she went to the counter and followed Granny so she could register for a room.

"I feel so bad for her... I wish there was something I could do to help her..." Marco told David, Snow and Emma.

"I'm afraid all you can do is let her speak with your son when she feels it's time and be there for her." Snow shook her head.

"Maybe you should find a way to explain things to Pinocchio... I mean, he knows that he was a grown up and that he went back to being a boy earlier today, right?" Emma asked.

"Yes, I tried to explain it to him." Marco nodded.

"Then maybe you can tell him that he was very close to her when he was an adult and that it's hard for her to see him now, that she needs time to get over her pain..." Emma suggested.

"You might be right." he nodded.

"Poor girl... I feel so bad for her... First she looses her mother because Regina killed her, then her father... Alone since she was 10... No family left and now the man she loves... It's horrible..." Snow shook her head.

"Surviving this will make her stronger." Emma declared.

"She was really alone since her father died?" Marco asked them.

"Yes, she told us earlier. She used magic to create a puppet at the image of his father so Authorities would leave her alone and she took care of herself. Went to school, got money by spinning straw into gold like her father taught her..." David explained.

"What a lonely existence." Marco shook his head.

"I don't know, she was probably better off alone than if she had gone into the system and ended up in Foster care. I've been there and I would have loved it much better to be on my own." Emma explained.

"But being so lonely... I hope she'll be able to move on and find another happy ending here..." Snow shook her head.

"She loved him, she'll need some time to get over it. Especially since he didn't really die... If he had died, she could have just put him behind her but this... It's much harder to get through." Emma declared and they all guessed that she was speaking from experience, she was speaking about her and Neal as well.

"Well, she's not alone anymore, she's got us. We'll help her through it." Marco decided, making Emma smile.

When Bella came back a few minutes later, she was feeling a bit better and if her eyes were still a bit red, her smile seemed real.

"So, do you need help carrying everything from your car to the room?" David offered.

"Oh... If you want to help, I will welcome it but otherwise, I'm fine on my own. I'm used to it." Bella smiled.

"You're not alone anymore. Come on Pinocchio, we'll help Bella carry her things into her room." Marco declared and soon, Henry, David, Snow and Emma were joining them.

Bella's car was bigger then Emma's and was filled with bags and boxes of all sorts. Books, clothes, souvenirs, pictures... At some point, Bella saw Marco grabbing a box and she stopped him.

"This one is for you... It's August's things, his most precious possessions, a journal of his life without you, written for you and a couple of photo albums for you. It's for you. Maybe you can use it to show Pinocchio some of his life as an adult in the real world." She told him.

"Thank you." Marco nodded.

When everything was in her temporary bedroom, Emma offered to see a movie all together but Bella turned the offer down.

"I know you're trying to help, and tomorrow I'll probably welcome it but for now I just want to be alone and wallow for a while." Bella explained.

"I understand, don't worry. If you feel up to it, we can have lunch together. I'll be at Granny's around noon. Join me if you want to." Emma suggested with a smile that mirrored her mother's before she left Bella alone in her room.

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><p><strong>According to the first chapter's reviews, you loved it so here is the second part. I'll try to take it as far as Neverland and beyond if I'm inspired enough.<strong>

**So, when or where do you think Bella is giong to meet Hook?**

**What would you like to see happening?**

**Lorelei Candice Black**


	3. Chapter 3

_**3**_

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><p>Bella was alone in her bedroom and she couldn't help but cry for her losses, all of them. She cried for the mother she didn't get a chance to know, for the uncle who died as a slave, for her father who died too soon trying to do the right thing, for her Love who died and was turned back into a little boy... She cried for the life she had lost, for the hole in her heart.<p>

Bella fell asleep crying, knowing that Granny and Ruby had probably heard her because of their wolf abilities but not really caring. She had been alone to take care of herself since she was 10 years old and even when she was with August, she didn't really need support, she was happy. For once in her life, she felt the weight of it all falling on her shoulders and missed having someone to take care of her, to hug her and tell her that it would all be alright.

When she woke up the next morning, Bella felt heavy and her head hurt from all the crying she had done before falling asleep but she got up none the less, grabbed a quick coffee at Granny's, trying to ignore the nice woman's sympathetic looks that proved that she had indeed heard her cry and went to visit the town that would now be her home. Apparently, word of who she was had already spread through town because people she didn't know came to introduce themselves to her, assuring her that if she needed anything, all she had do was ask. They were trying to be welcoming, to make her feel good and she appreciated it. She could see pity in some of their eyes though and she hated that part.

"Oh, Good Morning, you must be Bella. Marco told me all about you. I'm Doctor Hopper, but you can call me Archie." A tall man told her as he appeared in front of her.

"Good Morning. Let me guess, Marco told you what I was going through and you came here to offer me your services." Bella guessed with small smile.

"That's about it, yeah." he nodded, a guilty smile on her face.

"So, are you going to offer me your services as a therapist or as conscience?" She asked him as she knelt down to pet his dog.

"I see that you already know who I am... Both I guess... Whatever you need." he smiled.

"Thank you, I appreciate the offer... Maybe later... Right now I just need to sort through my thoughts and feelings on my own." Bella apologized.

"Of course, as you wish. My door is always opened, no matter the day or the hour. Here, take my card."

Bella took the piece of paper the man had handed her, pet his dog a little and they both went back to walking in opposite directions. She was grateful for the fact that he didn't push it. Maybe she would go see him later, maybe seeing him would help.

Glancing up, Bella noticed that it was 11:30 so she decided to make her way back to the dinner to have lunch with Emma. Maybe making a new friend would help her and she did promise the Savior that she'd help her control her magic.

When Bella arrived in front of the dinner, Emma was standing with Henry and talking with a man she supposed was Neal. A black woman was standing beside him and Bella didn't know if she should interrupt or wait for Emma to see her so she stayed a bit away.

"Oh Bella, come over here, I want to introduce you to someone." Emma called her over as soon as she spotted her and Bella came, knowing that Emma wanted to know if Neal's Tamara was the same one that had killed the Dragon.

"Neal, Tamara, this is Bella. She was August's girlfrend." Emma introduced her.

Neal spoke, he said how sorry he was, how he wished he could do something to make her feel better but she only half heard him. She was concentrated on Tamara whose condolences words sounded far from sincere but Bella didn't want to say anything here.

"I'm sorry Neal, I had plans with Bella and we need to go." Emma said to cut the conversation short.

"Henry is joining us, right? I have a story he'll just _love_ to hear." Bella intervened when Henry began to take a step toward his father.

"Actually, we were going to take him with us on a hike." Neal replied.

"Will you let him stay with us, please? Just this once? He'll really want to hear this story." Bella asked.

"I can have dinner with you instead Dad, right?" Henry asked and Neal nodded his head, not willing to create trouble.

"So, why did you really want Henry to stay with us?" Emma asked Bella once they were inside.

"Because Tamara is definitely the woman I saw talking with August in Thailand, the one who killed the Dragon, meaning she's probably the one who killed August and that she's not working alone. I didn't think you'd want your son spending any more time with her than necessary." Bella explained.

"You're right, thank you." Emma nodded.

"It means you were right mom. Operation Phoenix is on!" Henry replied excitedly.

"The operation barely started and you already have a name for it?" Emma rolled her eyes.

"It's all I could do not to go over and hurt her..." Bella shook her head.

"So, are we going to arrest her?" Henry asked.

"It would only make me look like a jealous ex girlfriend. We need proof. We need to keep an eye on her..." Emma shook her head.

"Should we warn Neal? I don't think he's working with her. I kind of have a 6th sense for detecting evil, dark hearts or people plotting and if she is, he has no clue to what is going on." Bella informed Emma, trying to stay focussed on Emma's emotional problem instead of hers.

"No, he wouldn't believe us and he'd tell her everything, which would only complicate things for us because she'd be on her guards and try to hide more than she already is." Emma shook her head.

"What if she's working with Greg Mendel? You know, the guy who arrived in town, had a car accident and hasn't left yet?" henry suggested.

"Is he suspicious?" Bella asked.

"Well, not at first... But now that I think of it... He has a room at Granny's right next to Neal and Tamara's room, on the floor under yours. He's always wandering in the woods or around town, like he's looking for something but doesn't want to make it too obvious..." Emma explained.

"It's worth looking into then. Now, let's eat. If you want, I can teach you some magic this afternoon, it will help me think about something other than August and if it comes to a fight, you'll be able to defend yourself better than with a gun." Bella offered.

"That would be great, thanks." Emma smiled.

"Can I watch?" Henry asked and Bella nodded.

"Of course, I don't see why not." Emma nodded as well.

.

Bella spent the afternoon with Henry and Emma, at the park, teaching the sheriff how to use her powers. When they were done for the day, Bella politely declined their offer to join them in their family dinner, assuring them that she would happily join them another time. She felt like, more than a home cooked meal, she needed a drink.

"I totally understand Bella. I'd join you but I'm on call tonight and I need to stay sobber. Call me if you need a ride though." Emma offered and Bella smiled and nodded.

Before she left, Emma and Bella agreed to meet for breakfast so they could start a plan to stop Tamara.

Bella got a burger and quickly ate it before she made her way to the Rabbit Hole, right when Neal and Tamara entered the dinner hand in hand, without Henry. It looked like Emma and Henry had found an excuse to keep the young boy away from the suspicious woman.

When Bella arrived in front of the Rabbit Hole, she wondered if this was the right solution to her problems, she knew that she'd probably come to regret it in the morning but she still stepped inside. For once, she wanted to get wasted and to forget all of her problems. For once, she didn't want to be a good girl.

"You look a little lost there Love. A lady as pretty as you doesn't belong in such a place. Can I help you find your way?" An handsome man dressed in a long black leather jacket and black leather pants asked her with an adorable and sexy accent.

She noticed only a second later the hook replacing one of his hands and immediately knew that he was the pirate from her father's stories. She tries to force herself not to notice how good he looked and how caring his smile looked behind the smirk, she was still grieving, she couldn't notice other men, not yet.

"I'm right where I want to be, thank you." Bella replied, walking past him.

"At least let me buy you a drink then." he offered following her.

"If all you want is a drink and conversation, sure but I should warn you, if you're doing this to get into my pants, you're wasting your time. I'm grieving and definitely not in the mood to hook up with anyone tonight or anytime soon." Bella warned him, realising only later the pun she made.

"Well, let me buy you a drink none the less. Maybe I can help you with your pain. I've been told that I have a very listening ear. My name is Killian Jones." He replied, guiding her to a table like a gentleman.

"Killian Jones, as in Captain Hook, right?" She asked him to make sure that she wasn't mistaking.

"You've heard of me?" he asked her.

"Yes, my father told me your story... Charlie Swan... I think you allowed him to travel on your Jolly Roger once or twice." She replied.

"Ah, yes. Charlie Swan, a good man. Definitely someone I consider a friend. Is he around? I'd like to say hello." Killian smiled sincerely at the news of his old friend being around.

"He... he died... Well, he was killed about 18 years ago..." Bella whispered as Killian ordered them drinks.

She missed her father.

"What happened?" Killian asked, shocked.

"When the Evil queen cast her curse, my father saw it, he was burying my mother who had died giving birth to me so he rushed home, grabbed our things and used a bean to open a portal. We arrived right next to Storybrook and witnessed the town being created. Well, he did because I was just a few hours old at the time. He knew that Graham, my uncle, also known as the Huntsman, was under Regina's control so when I was 10 and old enough to stay on my own for a few days, he came here to try and rescue him. Regina found out and murdered him." Bella explained.

"I'm sorry Love. He was truly a good man... He will be missed." Hook replied sincerly pained by the news.

"I know I do, every day." Bella nodded, taking a large sip from her glass.

"Anyway, what's your name, Love?" he asked her.

"Bella. I'm surprised you don't know that already, it seems like the entire town knows me and part of my story since I arrived yesterday." She shook her head.

"Aye, I've heard something about Pinocchio being turned back into a child and his girlfriend coming in town to look for him, but I found it more polite to ask for the answer myself and give you the opportunity to keep your story to yourself."

"Thank you. I didn't know Pirates could be gentlemen... I guess my father was right about you, you can be a man of honor." she smiled.

"He told you that?" Hook asked her, surprised.

"Yes he did."

"So, would it be inconciderate of me to ask if you know what happened to your boyfriend? Who killed him?"

"Do you know Neal?" Bella asked.

"Bealfire, the Dark One's son. Yes, I know him pretty well. You don't actually think that he had anything to do with this, do you? Because I know him pretty well and he might have his faults but he's still a good man. he would never..." Killian replied passionately.

"No, I don't think he had anything to do with it, but his girlfriend on the other hand... Tamara has already killed people who had magic outside of Storybrook, August and I saw her. She probably killed him so he didn't stop her before she hurt people. Luckily she doesn't know I saw her too. I already told Emma everything." Bella explained.

"I... Her accomplice and her captured me and forced me to work with them. They said that they just wanted to hurt the Dark One and take magic away..." He confessed, unable to hide anythng from the woman he felt so attracted to, and not only on a phisical level.

"You're working with them? They won't just take magic away, they'll destroy everything and everyone with it!" Bella exclaimed.

"Aye, I'm starting to see that... If there's one thing I want more than my revenge, it's my life. I think I'll help you stop them." he nodded.

"It's Emma you should talk to then, but maybe not right now. I'm meeting her for breakfast at Granny's around 8 tomorrow morning. You should join us. Tell her what you know. The faster we can stop them, the better it will be for everyone because I don't know much about them but I know that they have weapons specially designed to hurt and kill people who have magic." Bella explained, seeing the Dragon dead on his wooden floor in Thailand.

"Very well. But if I have to become an honest man fighting for what's right, I'll need another drink, and you'll need to have one with me." he smirked.

"Fine, I'll have another drink with you. Your company isn't that bad after all and I came here to drawn my sorrow." She smiled.

"Aye, loosing a loved one is never easy." He nodded

Bella and her new pirate friend didn't drink much but they talked a lot. She told him everything about her life, including the most emotional parts about her father, her mother and August. In exchange, he told her about Milah, Bealfire, his quest for revenge, his brother and even his childhood.

They parted ways around 3 in the morning. He walked her back to the Bed and Breakfast to make sure she made it home without running into troubles before he made his way to his beloved ship, thinking about this young woman who refused to leave his mind and was taking over his every thoughts.

.

The next morning, Bella woke up with a headache but ignored it and got ready. When she arrived downstairs, Hook was already taking with Emma.

"Hey, I see you didn't change your mind during the night." Bella greeted the pirate.

"When I make up my mind, I very rarely change it." Hook replied while Bella sat, having already ordered tea and pancakes.

"So Emma, did he have any useful information?" Bella asked her new friend.

"I think so, yes. With his help, we'll be able to stop them as soon as tomorrow." Emma nodded.

"Good. I don't like the idea of this murderess on the lose." Bella nodded.

"Don't worry Fair Bella, your Love will be avenged." Hook smiled.

"Revenge isn't always the solution." Emma glared at him.

"No, but justice is." Bella added.

"I think this was directed at me, Love but don't worry Savior, I'm done going after the Dark One. I consider poisoning him getting my revenge. I don't care that he found a way to survive. Getting rid of Cora might actually be considered a good action on his part." Hook said, looking at Bella first and then at Emma.

"He's trying to change, for Belle and Neal. So okay, right now Belle has lost her memories and loved his when he hurts people but it won't last, Blue is working on a memory potion and is close to doing it. If being here taught me anything is that everyone deserves a second chance." Emma replied.

"Not everyone, no." Bella shook her head darkly.

"Well, she is already on her second chance so..." Emma nodded.

"Anyway, I promised I'd try to find out where Greg and Tamara's hideout was and I shall make good on this promise. I'll find you when I have an answer Sheriff. Bella, nice to see your beautiful face again." Hook declared before he left then alone at the table.

"Something happened last night between the two of you?" Emma asked Bella.

"We talked and had a couple of drinks together, nothing more..." Bella shook her head with a small blush on her face.

"Okay, well, I've got to head to work but if you want to meet up for lunch..." Emma offered.

"You know that you don't have to babysit me, right? You don't have to spend every free minute with me, I'll be fine. I'm used to loss, I'll get over it." Bella smiled.

"I know, but I want to. As Henry would say, it's not everyday you meet someone you feel an be a True Friend. Anyway, i'm meeting David and Mary-Margaret here around noon and you'll be welcome to join us if you want to." Emma smiled.

"Thank you. I think I'll take you up on your offer." Bella smiled.

"Okay, see you later then." Emma waved before she left Bella alone to finish her breakfast just as Marco came in.

"Good morning Bella, how are you doing today?" He asked her when she offered him the seat in front of her with the wave of one hand.

"Better, thank you. Where's Pinocchio?" She asked him.

"At school, with the other children his age." He replied.

"Good, it'll help him adapt better to his new situation. I wanted to thank you, for talking to Doctor Hopper."

"I hope I didn't upset you, I was just trying to help." he replied quickly, appology in his voice.

"Not at all. I'm not ready to talk to him yet but now I know where to find him when I'm finally ready."

"So, how are you adapting to our little town? Making friends?" He asked her and she couldn't help but compare it to the tone a concerned grandfather would use to speak to his beloved granddaughter.

"After all the people I've lost in my life, it's nice to realize that since coming here a couple of days ago, I've already found a true friend." Bella smiled.

"Emma." He nodded.

"Yes... You should also know... Neal's fiancee, Tamara, is probably the one who... hurt... your son. Emma's working on a way to have reasons to arrest her as soon as possible. If you see her coming your way, it might be a good idea to change streets." Bella warned him and he nodded a thank you.

Bella finished her breakfast as Marco finished his coffee and they both parted ways, ready to face the day.

* * *

><p><strong>Another chapter done.<strong>

**Review please?**

**Lorelei Candice Black**


	4. Chapter 4

**_4_**

* * *

><p>After Bella left Granny's, she knew who she wanted to speak to next: Rumpelstiltskin, the Dark one. She knew that he had been the one who introduced her parents and that her father had been his apprentice for a few years when he was a homeless teenager abandoned by his parents because they struggled with money too much and she felt that speaking to the man would make her feel closer to her dead parents.<p>

"Ah, our new visitor. If this is about your boyfriend, I'm afraid there is nothing I can do to help." M. Gold said as soon as she entered his shop.

"This has nothing to do with August's fate... I know that all that is left for me to do is to grieve August and accept that he's now a little boy. I came here for something else." Bella replied.

"Make a deal? Looking for something in particular maybe?" he asked her.

"Looking for closure..."

"I'm afraid I can't help with this..." he shook his head.

"I believe you can... Beside what everyone is gossiping, do you have any idea of who I am?" Bella asked him.

"Not really, no. Do you have any relations with Emma Swan?" he asked her.

"Well, we became friends when I came to town but no, not the way you think. But there is another Swan you know, or knew, really, that I'm related to." She explained.

"You're Charlie's daughter, aren't you?" Gold asked her with a smile.

"I am. I was wandering if we could talk... My father told me that he used to be your student, that you took him in and that you were like a second father to him. I know that he loved you and that the only reason he didn't stay in touch with you after you introduced him to my mother was because you asked him to stay away. Since he's dead, I was wondering if you could tell me more about your time together." Bella explained.

"I cared a lot about your father... Asking him to stay away was my way of protecting him from the side effects of the curse, from my darkness." Gold admitted.

"He knew." Bella assured him.

"May I ask how he died?" Gold asked Bella as he mentioned for her to follow him in the back room of the shop.

"You don't know?" She sounded surprised and after making tea appear between them he replied:

"Should I?"

"Do you know how we arrived here?" She asked him.

"Yes, I saw that he would use a bean he collected to cross worlds and come here separately from everyone else." Gold nodded.

"Right... Before I continue, all these years I've been wondering, why didn't you ask him for a bean to come here and find your son?"

"Because I'm a coward at heart Bella, and I was afraid of coming in this world without magic, where I would be alone and powerless. When he started trading with the giants, my plan was already in motion and I was afraid of interrupting it." He explained.

"Oh... Okay." She hadn't been expecting an answer so normal, so human.

"So, how did Charlie die?"

"Well, when I turned 10, my father thought that I was old enough to stay home alone for a couple of days. He used his powers to create a sort of doll at his image to cover for his absence in other people's eyes and came here, in Storybrook, to try and rescue my uncle." She started.

"Graham, the huntsman." Gold nodded.

"Yes. I was able to follow his actions through a mirror... he had taught me everything he knew about magic and I was able to use it, much better than him. I watched as Regina caught him with Graham's heart in his hand. She couldn't use her magic here so she pulled out a gun and shot him in the head first. Then she took the heart and shot him again in the chest, even though he was already dead from the shot he received in the head. After that, she called Graham and used his heart to get him to dump my father in a hole in the woods where nobody would ever find him."

"It must have been hard to watch for someone so young... I'm sorry... He should have come find me... I would have helped him the best way I could..." Gold shook his head.

"He thought that you were cursed like everyone else... I... I just wanted to talk with you about him... I thought that maybe it would help me... With losing August... It brings back my father's loss and it's... hard." Bella replied and her pain was obvious.

"Of course, anything I can do to help you." He smiled.

"Do you know... I don't know if you're aware but my father wanted you to be my Godfather... He always said that if things had been different, he would have asked you to be my Godfather... For this reason I almost came here to find you after he died but I was afraid that you would refuse to help me..." Bella shook her head.

"I didn't know... But I would have proudly accepted. I considered your father family." Gold told her with a sincere smile before he started telling him of the first time he met her father and of their time together before he explained to her how he helped him find his True Love, her mother.

They talked for hours and when noon arrived, Gold invited Bella to have lunch with him at Granny's so that they could keep on talking. Since Bella was enjoying talking about her father, she agreed and they were just sitting down when Neal and Henry arrived, alone, to get lunch. Bella invited them to sit with them and allowed Neal to see his father in a new light, to learn how he had cared for her father and everything good he had done. She figured it would be a nice change and even Henry enjoyed getting to know his grandfather better.

"How about we go take a walk in the park now, keep this conversation going?" Bella suggested after Gold paid for the 4 of them.

"Why not, I'm actually enjoying this. Henry?" Neal nodded.

"I'm in. Grandpa?" Henry asked and Gold smiled and nodded.

They had just walked out of Granny when Emma, her parents and Hook arrived from the left. Bella greeted them, hoping that Hook and Gold would keep on ignoring each other, when Regina arrived.

"This isn't a meeting hall, move it somewhere else." Regina glared at them.

"Mom..." Henry said, half greeting, half protesting.

"And why are YOU still here? Your Love is gone, move on and leave _my_ town." Regina told Bella.

"You should be careful about what you say to me witch." Bella replied, anger evident in her voice.

"Bella..." Emma said, trying to find something to say to calm her new friend down, especially since Marco and Pinocchio just arrived around the corner but Regina cut her off.

"Am I supposed to be afraid of you? What do you think you can do to me exactly?" Regina smirked.

"I am more powerful than you think." Bella snapped.

"Oh... I know that look... This is personal... Why? What have I ever done to you? You weren't even touched by my curse, none of this concerns you." Regina replied as a crowd started to form around them.

"You really don't know, do you? Do you really want me to tell everyone here why I hate you and would love to see you in a coffin so I could dance on it?" Bella said in a voice close to a growl.

"I think someone needs to be put back in her place." Regina smiled.

"Put back in my place? Please, look who's talking. The only reason you're in power here is because you **murdered** Snow White's father and stole power. Snow should be mayor of this town, not you. Your rightful place would be rotting in a jail cell. After everything you've done, a jail is even too good for you." Bella spat.

"And what exactly is it that you think I did?" Regina chuckled.

"Papa, do something." Neal told his father behind Bella.

"Not yet, she needs this, trust me. If we stop this, it will eat her alive." Gold replied and Bella was grateful.

"I bet you don't even know who I am, do you? Well, let me make things clearer for you. My father was Charlie Swan, taken in by the Dark One who loved him like a son when he was 12, True Love of my mother, Renee Swan. Now you might not know who my mother is with just her name but I know that you know of my uncle, her brother. His name was Graham, also known as the Huntsman who spared Snow White's life when you ordered him to kill her. You took his heart and kept him your prisoner for years. You manipulated him, raped him... When my mother tried to come and rescue him, you killed her but she was pregnant with me and I was already very gifted with magic so it saved her life, temporarily. She died as she gave birth to me. That was an hour exactly before you enacted the Dark Curse. My father grabbed our things and a bean and we escaped here. When I was ten, he decided I was old enough to stay on my own a couple of days and he came here to rescue my uncle from your dirty and evil clutches. I was afraid for him so I enchanted a mirror to follow his moves... He had my uncle's heart in his hand when you shot him twice. Once in the head, a second time in the chest though I don't know why the second shot was necessary. Then you had my uncle bury him in the woods where nobody would ever find him, like he was just an unimportant thing to get rid of... I've lost everything and everyone because of you Regina... I've been alone ever since I turned 10, not knowing who I could trust, not knowing if I'd ever be happy and find another family..." Bella was in tears by now and it looked like half the town was curiously surrounding them.

"Well, your parents had no right breaking in my personal property." Regina smirked.

"That's your excuse?" Emma exclaimed from the side.

"They had every right to rescue my uncle! You were keeping him prisoner! Using his heart to have sex with him... Forcing him to hurt people... What you did to him was worst than death... I do consider what you did to him to be even worst than rape. And when he finally managed to break out of it, because he was falling in love with Emma, you simply crushed his heart and killed him... Why? Couldn't you handle the fact that even though you held his heart, he still was able to break out of your manipulation? That Emma's love was worth more to him more than his life? That it was more powerful than you?" Bella yelled.

"He deserved what he got." Regina replied with a frown.

"Because he refused to obey your stupid order to kill an innocent young woman? One whose only crime was to have wanted for you to be as close to your mother as she used to be to hers before she was murdered by your mother? Because he acted with humanity? I've seen rocks with more humanity than you Regina." Bella snapped.

"You would do well to remember who you're talking to, there is a reason I'm still in power here. It's because I'm the most powerful one here." Regina gloated.

"No you're not! Grandpa' is much stronger than you." Henry exclaimed.

"You can't kill me. Whatever magic you think you have, you can't be powerful enough to kill me, especially if it's good magic. Dark magic is much more powerful. And the Dark One is stuck in an old deal we made. He can't kill me." Regina said, ignoring Henry's remark.

"Don't do anything Rumpel. She's mine." Bella said and she didn't need to look behind her to know that he listened to her.

"You can't kill her Bella... Can't you try to forgive her?" Snow pleaded.

"When are you going to realize that there is no saving this woman Snow? How many times have you given her another chance? How many times has she ruined this second chances? How many more people need to die before you finally realize that she deserve nothing more than to die in the way she killed so many others?" Bella snapped at her friend's mother.

"There's still hope..." Snow protested weakly.

"No, not for her. Not anymore. Not unless she drops on her knees, begs for my forgiveness and everyone else. Not unless she truly feels regrets for everything she has done, and we both know that it's not going to happen anytime soon." Bella shook her head.

"Now who has a dark heart?" Regina chuckled.

"You don't know what you're talking about. You want to see my heart, here, take a look at it." Bella snapped, plunging her hand in her chest and taking her heart out.

Everyone gasped at the sight.

The heart in itself was the purest red they had ever seen, surrounded by a bright hallow of gold with a few light, sparkling blue stripes around it.

"Do you know what these stripes are Regina? What they represent? They're the losses I've endured. My father, my mother, my uncle and August. They've marked my heart and he's still pure. Not one hint of black anywhere in it." Bella said, putting back the heart in her chest.

Regina was silent, finally at a loss of words and Bella rushed to take the fallen Queen's heart out before she got her guards up again.

"Let's take a look at yours, shall we?" Bella said with an angry frowned as she stole the Evil witch's heart and showed it to everyone before Regina could say or do anything.

The heart was the darkest black there was, not even a small hint of red in it. Bella threw it at Snow who caught it as she would a ball and said:

"Can you really still see hope in that? All I can see is darkness and death. All she is, all she'll ever be, is an evil witch, her heart is the proof of that." Bella said in a strangely calm voice.

"How dare you! Give it back!" Regina exclaimed as she used her magic to attract her heart back to her hand and placed it back where it belonged.

"You actually think that you can win against me? That you can attack me like you just did and get away with it?" Regina snarled, a fire ball appearing in her hand.

Everyone took a step back except for Gold who went to stand by Bella and Emma who went to stand on her other side.

"I've got this. Don't worry." Bella told them both.

"Really Gold? You're going to defend this weak girl?" Regina rolled her eyes.

"She's family to me. This girl should have been my Goddaughter if you hadn't murdered her parents. This girl is the daughter of a boy I took in and cared for for several years. This girl, is not only the product of True Love like our own Savior here but she inherited both of her parent's magic." Gold growled, making a fire ball of his own appear.

"I want justice Regina. I want justice for my parents and my uncle. If I can't get it the normal way, I'll take it in my own hands but my parents and my uncle deserve this justice, as do the countless other people that you've murdered." Bella announced calmly.

"Even if it turns your heart black?" Regina asked with an amused smile.

"I don't care what color it turns my heart. They're worth it." Bella snapped, getting angrier by the minute.

"Well, it won't change the color of mine, so allow me." Gold said before he pushed Bella and Emma back and went to stand in front of them, protecting them from Regina and shocking his son.

"You're really going to defend the little people now? You think it's going to make your son love you again?" Regina asked her old mentor.

"This isn't about my son Regina, not this one at least." Gold replied.

"What? What do you mean by 'not this one'? He's the only son you have." Regina snapped.

"No, he's not. Blood isn't everything dearie. Charlie Swan was like a son to me and it's because I loved him like a son that I asked him to stay away from me once he found True Love, to protect him. I hoped it would keep him out of this curse entirely... Now that I know that because of you, his fate wasn't as happy as I hoped it would be, I will help his only daughter get the justice she deserves." Gold explained confidently.

"I... I didn't know he had it in him..." Neal whispered and his father turned to look at him with a soft smile.

"Except nothing has changed, you can't kill me without breaking our word, and you won't because it's been sworn on your magic. You kill me and you lose all of your powers." Regina smirked while Gold looked back to his son.

Using his distraction to her advantage, Regina threw her fireball at the Dark One. Bella knew that it wouldn't kill him but she didn't want him in any pain because of her so she stepped in front of the Dark One and used her magic to create a shield in front of them. The fire ball bounced on it and flew right back to Regina, who caught fire.

Nobody did anything to help her.

They watched as she burned and were all silent. Henry had his face hidden in his father's chest because Neal didn't want him to see what was happening but he wasn't really sad about it. He understood that Regina was evil and that she needed to be stopped, he was finally seeing her for the evil she was.

.

A few hours later, Bella was once again sitting at the Rabbit Hole, drinking her sorrow, when someone familiar sat by her side.

"Are we going to make an habit out of all of this? Finding each other in the same place to get a drink after a hard day?" Bella smirked.

"Do you really think that this is what you need?" Hook asked her, making her smile as he gestured to her glass of bourbon.

"I think that while I'm drinking, I'm not crying in my room, remembering everyone I've lost and that I'm now completely alone." Bella replied.

"You're not alone, you have Swan, she cares about you. She's your friend. And you even have the Dark One. Apparently he cares for you too and we all know that if there are few people he cares about, he's capable of great things for those lucky few. He even looked ready to sacrifice his magic for you." Hook assured her.

"How did it go with Emma today?" Bella asked him, changing the subject.

"Pretty well. She should be able to move against Greg and Tamara tomorrow. She'll probably call you and ask if you want to join her for it." The pirate informed her.

"Maybe I will... I don't know." Bella shook her head.

"You can't join her if you've got a hangover." he smirked.

"I can hold my liquor Captain." Bella replied in a challenging tone.

"Well then, the Savior will surely welcome your help." He smiled.

"You'll be there too?" Bella asked him.

"I don't think so. I stole one of the magic beans from Greg and Tamara. I think I'll use it to leave this realm."

"You're not staying here? You're leaving?" Bella didn't know why that thought saddened her.

"There's nothing here for me and while I agreed to stop trying to kill the Dark One, I can't stay here where I don't have a choice but to cross him everyday. I think it's time for me to go back to what I do best." Killian replied before he took a sip of his own glass.

"Plundering?" She asked him, trying to sound casual about it.

"Aye. A pirate's life for me." He nodded.

"Isn't this a bit lonely? I'm sure you could find a life here, stop being a pirate, go back to the man you used to be before you chose to lead a pirate's life..." She suggested.

"That's not for me anymore, Love. I've changed too much." he shook his head.

"I don't believe that. The man of honor is still here, hidden somewhere inside you. All you need is for someone to show you that you can still change. Staying here, helping... That would be enough to show not only you but everyone else as well, that you can change." Bella told him.

"We'll see. All I can think of right now is taking the Jolly Roger away, use a bean and going far away from here and the knowledge that the Dark One is still alive and probably out to get me." Hook replied, finishing his drink and ordering another one.

"So you're leaving and there's no convincing you otherwise... When are you planning on leaving?" She asked him.

"Sometime tomorrow morning. I'll ask Smee if he wants to join me or not and we'll be on our way." Killian replied.

"Here's to your coming trip then." Bella toasted with the newly filled glass the barman had served her, thinking that once again, someone she knew was leaving her.

.

Neal followed his father home after Regina's remains had been disposed off.

He had let Henry go with Emma and decided to spend some time with his father to try and make up for lost time.

Seeing him defending Bella and talking of her father like he had made Neal wonder if he was making a mistake in not trusting his father, in not letting him in. Maybe he was capable of love and unselfish actions after all. Maybe he did deserve to be given a second chance, something Neal had never given him.

* * *

><p><strong>So, what did you think? <strong>

**Some people might think I was too harsh on Regina but I just wanted to see her fail and pay for her crimes at least once.**

**Review please?**

**Lorelei Candice Black**


	5. Chapter 5

_**5**_

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><p>Bella woke up in her bedroom the next morning with a small hangover and was thankful for the fact that she remembered everything from the previous night. Hook had walked her back to her room and made sure she was fine before leaving her alone and going back to his ship for the night. He had acted like a true gentleman and allowed her to see the man that was hiding behind the pirate and she really hoped that he'd end up deciding to stay.<p>

She had drank a lot the previous night, taking one drink after the other, trying to forget how her life was miles away from what she had thought it would be. She knew that drinking wasn't the way to solve her problems permanently but it helped her in the short term and right now, that was all she cared about.

"So Bella, you want to join us to try and stop Greg and Tamara today?" Emma asked Bella that morning as they met at Granny's for breakfast.

"If she really is the one who did this to August, then yes, I'm coming." Bella nodded.

"Very well, come with me then. We're regrouping at the sheriff's station to decide on a plan of attack. Since you're used to practicing your powers, it'll be useful to have you around." Emma smiled.

"Did Hook tell you anything about joining us?" Bella asked him.

"No, nothing. I didn't even ask actually. Why?" Emma asked her.

"I... Last night he ran into me at the White Rabbit and he said something about leaving town this morning... I guess I was hoping he'd change his mind." Bella shook her head, trying to make it sound like she didn't really care.

"Is something going on between you two?"

"What? No! Just some bonding around a drink... I... I can't feel anything like...like... this... yet. August's memory is still too fresh in my heart..." Bella shook her head.

"But you've thought about it, haven't you?" Emma smiled teasingly.

"I have... He can be very charming, and given time, if he stayed... I don't know, maybe something could happen... But it doesn't matter, he's leaving this morning and... I can't think about this right now. I need to get justice for August and the Dragon. We need to stop this Tamara and her friend before they hurt anyone else." Bella shook her head.

"Yes, let's focus on this for now. Who knows, maybe you'll cross Hook again. After all, my mother always says that if people are meant to be together, they find a way." Emma nodded.

"Will you try to get Neal back after Greg and Tamara are stopped?" Bella asked Emma later, as they made their way to the station.

"I don't know... It'll take some time I think... I mean, of course I still love him, he's my first Love after all and you don't forget that kind of things but he's hurt me a lot... And not only in the past but even now when he doesn't believe my doubts about Tamara and thinks I'm just being jealous... He doesn't trust me and I can't be with someone who doesn't trust me or my instincts, who have never been wrong by the way." Emma replied.

"I understand... I think he has a lot to work on between his relationship with you, the one with his son and the one with his father... He'll also have to deal with being betrayed by Tamara after today... The next few weeks will be filled with emotions for him." Bella reminded Emma.

"Yeah well, it's something we all have to deal with at some point. Do you think it's easy for me to try and let my parents in? To open up to them, taking the risk that they'll leave me again at the first occasion they get? It's not. I feel like ever since I broke the curse, I take two steps back after each steps forward. I know that I'm hurting them by being this distant but it's not easy to let them in after all this time I've spent alone, being betrayed and left by everyone... Neal'll just have to get used to it. Someone as old as he is should know it can't be avoided... I mean what is he, like 200 years old? He should try to mature a bit. And I'll be expecting an appology from him before anything happens." Emma declared in a passion filled speech.

"It sounds like you've been keeping this inside for a while..." Bella smiled.

"I know... It nice to have someone who understands me to talk to." Emma nodded with a small smile, parking her car in front of the station where her parents were already waiting for her.

.

They had everything planned. David and Snow would check the basement while Emma and Bella would take the main floor.

However, they crossed Neal and Henry on the way and Henry let it slip what the other adults were doing. Willing to prove that Emma was wrong about Tamara, Neal decided to join them and so they stopped on the way to leave Henry in the safe care of his grandfather the powerful Dark One (and Belle since she had just gotten her real memories back, thanks to Blue and one of August's hair) before they all headed to the abandoned factory on the docks.

Once they arrived in the building Hook had showed Emma, they separated. On the main floor, Emma, Bella and Neal were together and Bella suggested she went on the opposite side to check it out and leave Emma and Neal together on their side. She was kind of hoping it would get them to speak honestly and maybe get closer together.

Over the radio, she heard David and Snow describing what looked like torture devices but there wasn't anybody there. She was about to turn around to try and join Emma when Greg ran right into her.

"Stop right there!" Bella yelled at him.

"And how are you going to do that? Get out of the way before I shoot you, whoever you are." Greg smirked, pointing his gun at her.

"You're right, you don't know who I am. I have magic and can hurt you a lot, even if I don't want to. Drop this gun right now and surrender yourself." Bella replied.

Greg was about to say something else when David and Snow arrived, running in their direction, probably following the tracks he had left when he exited the basement. Greg didn't waste a second and with a smirk in Bella's direction, he shot his gun twice. Once at Snow, once at David.

Bella immediately used her powers to stop the bullets before they hit her new friend's parents. All of their attention was on the bullets and none of them saw Greg running away.

"He's escaping!" Bella exclaimed.

"Let him go for now, let's check on Emma, she's not answering and this Tamara looks crazier than the guy. Thank for saving us by the way." David replied.

"You're welcome. It's the least I could do." Bella nodded as she followed them.

"Emma should be this way." Snow said, pointing to the right.

"No... We should go that way, I feel magic being done." Bella replied, pointing to the left and running in that direction without waiting for David and Snow.

When they arrived, a portal was opened on the floor. Emma was holding on a half broken pipe so she didn't fall in it and Neal held on to her legs. Tamara had just turned around and was about to run away when Bella used her powers to hit her with a ball of magic that glued her on the spot, preventing her from going anywhere.

"Neal, hold on!" Emma cried out, not seeing her parents and Bella yet.

"I can't, or we'll both fall. Henry needs you." Neal told Emma, not seeing anyone other than Emma either.

"I love you." Emma cried.

"I love you too." Neal replied as he let go.

Snow and David couldn't help their daughter, going closer would mean being sucked in the portal as well.

Bella turned away from Tamara at the same time Neal let go. She used her powers to send Emma back to her parents (right on top of them actually) but Neal had already let go and the portal was closing. Of course she tired using her powers to bring him back up but even she wasn't strong enough to do that.

"I think he went to the Enchanted Forest." Bella whispered.

"It doesn't matter. Tamara shot him in the chest... He won't survive that..." Emma shook her head as she was being hugged by her parents.

"You don't know that. There are still people there. If he's found on time, they can save him and he'll do his best to contact us. You just have to have faith and believe." Bella told Emma softly.

"Now come on, let's bring Tamara in and try to catch her accomplice." David suggested and Emma stood back up, drying her tears with a determined look on her face.

"Yeah, let's lock this bitch in before I'm tempted to take justice in my own hands." Emma replied, thinking of ways to tell Henry and Gold what happened.

Once Tamara was in jail and made it obvious that she wasn't going to talk anytime soon, Bella and Emma went to the Pawnbroker's shop to announce the bad news to Gold and Henry.

.

Greg knew that as much as he wanted to try and get Tamara back, he had to stay focused on his mission. He had the big black diamond like rock in his hand and knew that he had to activate it as soon as he could. The orders were clear, his mission was more important than anything else. Tamara knew that he couldn't waste the time to save her, she'd understand.

He managed to make it to the mines without anyone stopping him and, sure of himself, Greg placed the rock down and grabbed the strongest of the pickaxes: Grumpy's. With as much strength as he could gather, he hit the rock and watched in amazement as it rose above the ground and everything shook.

The town's self destruct device was now shining and he knew it meant it was activated. Greg knew that he only had a few hours before him to grab Henry, the savior's son and use his last bean to go to the home-office.

Before he left the mines, Greg took a few minutes to admire his handy work with satisfaction. He was almost done, he could waste a few minutes. Then he'd start looking for the boy his bosses wanted so much.

.

Emma, Bella and Henry were still in the shop with Gold when everything shook. Gold and Henry were still in the process of accepting Neal's sad fate and the sudden and violent shaking of everything alarmed them all.

"What's going on grandpa?" Henry asked him.

"Regina had a fail safe to the curse. It seems Greg just activated it..." Gold replied after concentrating a few minutes to get a vision.

"How do we stop it?" Bella asked him.

"Before today I would say it's impossible but between the 3 of us, if we work on it together, we should be able to stop it. It's in the mines, let's go." Gold replied.

"I'm coming too!" Henry decided and since they didn't have the time to leave him with anyone else, they let him come with them.

"Emma! What's going on?" Snow and David asked as they ran to join them.

"The town's going to destroy itself, we're going to try and stop it." Emma replied.

"We're coming with you." David decided, not willing to leave his daughter alone in such a moment.

They arrived in the mines and ran all the way to the black diamonds that was flying and shining.

"It's like the air is being sucked out of here..." Emma noticed.

"Not the air, the magic." Bella told her.

"Let's go ladies, follow my lead. Try not to think, just feel." Gold said, directing the last part at Emma.

Together, they managed to stop the diamond and make it back into a simple rock again but the shock-wave sent them all back.

"Is everyone alright?" Bella asked.

"I can't believe we did it!" Emma exclaimed, proud of what she had just managed.

"Where's Henry?" Gold asked and they all started to look around, unable to see him.

.

When he first saw Gold and everyone else arrive, Greg thought that he had waited too much, that they were going to find him but then he saw the young Henry with them and smiled, waiting for the right opportunity as he hide so he could still see what they were doing.

It came once they were all sent on the ground. They were unconscious for a few minutes and Greg managed to grab the boy and force him to follow him in silence. He had to hurry before they realized what he had done, but it didn't matter. All he had to do was to find an isolated spot and use the bean there.

.

Killian Jones was on the Jolly Roger with Smee and a couple of his faithful pirates. They were willing to follow him everywhere, whether that was staying in Storybrook or going to another world. The ship was a bit away from the town when Smee caught Hook's attention.

"Captain, something's wrong with the town, it looks like it's shaking and I swear there was never any trees in the middle of this road." Smee said, giving the looking-lass back to Killian who then ordered his men to turn the ship around.

Obviously the people in town were in trouble and Killian couldn't leave if Bella, among other people, was hurt. He didn't know what it was about this woman that attracted him so much, but if he could leave her, he couldn't leave if he didn't know that she was alright. If he could help, he had to help her.

"What do you think we can do Captain?" Smee asked him.

"I don't know, but we'll try anyway." Killian replied.

.

Emma was panicking, unable to find Henry anywhere.

"It's got to be that Greg guy!" Bella exclaimed.

"You're probably right." David nodded.

"Gold, do you have any idea of where he took Henry?" Emma asked her son's grandfather.

He had been silent for the past minute, his eyes closed and they all guessed that he was trying to have a vision.

"The docks. He's going to use a bean there but I can't see where exactly, it's like he's protected by someone." Gold finally replied.

"Let's go then, we've got to hurry." Emma said.

"Wait, I can make us appear there, it'll be faster." Gold replied and after Emma nodded, he waved his hands and a cloud of dark smoke took them to the docks.

"It's large, we'll need to spread and be on the look out." Snow noticed.

"Is that the Jolly Roger?" Bella asked as she pointed to the large sea.

"It looks like he's coming back our way... Didn't you say he was leaving?" Emma asked Bella, temporary distracted.

"I thought he was... Maybe he changed his mind..." Bella replied.

"It doesn't matter right now, we need to search for Henry before he takes him anywhere. Who knows what he has planed for him..." Gold reminded them and the two young women nodded.

"Rumpel, you should go with David and Snow so that they can have magic too. You take this side. Emma and I will take the other half. If you see them, make us appear next to you, if we do, we'll call you." Bella decided and they all agreed, nodded and separated ways.

"Maybe he's coming back for you." Emma suggested to her new friend while looking around for her son.

"It doesn't matter right now... It's still too soon for me." Bella shook her head.

"I know that, and I'm pretty sure he does too. But if he's coming back, it might mean that he wants to be here for when you're finally ready." Emma replied.

"We'll see. Look there's someone over there." Bella replied, pointing out to a form away from them.

They started running and when it became clear who it was Emma took her phone out and called her father.

"I don't know why my magic doesn't work on this guy. I can't freeze him on the spot like I did for Tamara earlier." Bella exclaimed as they kept on running.

"Maybe he's protected." Emma suggested.

"I just tried getting Henry to be glued to the ground but it's not working either, probably because he's with Greg. I think I managed to hide an enchanted mirror in his pocket however. He'll be able to talk to us later." Bella explained as Gold, David and Snow appeared next to them.

Greg had reach the edge of the dock by then and he threw a bean in the water. Casting one last smirk at the group while Henry cried out, he jumped in the portal before the group managed to reach him for good.

Emma tried to follow and jump after him but the portal quickly closed behind them and she yelled out her frustration.

"Don't worry Emma, I have a few beans, all we need to do is find out where they took Henry. Once that's done, we'll be able to follow and save him." Bella reassured her friend, hugging her, trying to reassure her.

"Swan? Bella? What's going on? We saw everything shake after we left." Hook asked as he arrived from behind them with Smee on his toes.

Bella explained the situation to him as quickly as she could.

"Well, I'll offer my ship and my services to go after him. I still have the bean I stole from them." Hook replied when she was done and everyone was thankful.

"How are we going to find out where they took him?" Emma asked Hook.

"I can help with that, I just need to get one thing from my shop. I suggest everyone who wants to come packs a small bag, we don't know how long it's going to take." Gold replied.

"Okay, we meet back here in an hour, then we're getting out of here." Emma agreed and they all separated ways.

.

In her room at Granny's Bella packed a small backpack. She started by changing into a pair of jeans, comfortable shoes to walk in and a t-shirt. Then she put a belt that used to belong to her father around her waist. It had a dagger and a sword on it and she knew they would need it eventually. The belt held a few bags and Bella knew that they were mostly empty.

In her bag, Bella placed another pair of jeans, 1 pair of socks and another set of underwear and a second t-shit. She added a jacket, in case it got cold where they'd go. She had a few chocolate barres and added them to her back pack. Maybe she'd be able to use them. She didn't know if they'd find food easily or not so at least they'd have that. She added the three small bottles of water she had and another knife. Then she added a couple of empty vials she had in case she found something that was worth taking back with her. At the last minute, she added a couple of flashlights she had and a change of batteries.

She put a couple of beans in two different safe places (in her back pack and in her jean's pocket) and grabbed two small mirrors she had. One she kept on her and the second one she put to the side.

"Hey Ruby, I'd like to pay in advance for the next couple of weeks. I don't know how long we'll be gone but I want to be able to still have a room with my things when I come back." Bella told the wolf girl.

"Of course! Don't worry, even if you're gone longer than that, we'll keep your room. I doubt we'll even need it but even if we did, we both know Marco would gladly look after your things." Ruby smiled.

Bella thanked her and went through the dinner, where Marco and his son were waiting for her. She explained where she was going and gave him the mirror, telling him how it worked and that he'd be able to use it to contact her in case there was a problem in town.

"Thank you and Good luck. If there's anything we can do from here, let me know." He replied, giving her a quick hug.

She smiled and rushed to join Emma and the Charming's on the Jolly Roger.

.

"So, who's coming with us?" Bella asked.

"Well, Smee is staying with us, the other men decided not to come after the Dark One revealed where we had to go... The Savior and her parents are here, along with the grumpy dwarf. The Dark One convinced his girlfriend to stay behind so if nobody else comes I think we're ready to go." Hook told her with a gentle smile.

"Where are we going then? It has to be scary if even your pirates are scared of it." Bella asked him.

"It's not really that they're scared, it's that we've already spent a very long time there in the past and none of us have cheery memories of it. It's not an experience they wish to repeat." Hook replied.

"Please tell me we're not going to Neverland?" Bella asked him after thinking about what he told her.

"I'm afraid so." Hook nodded.

"Can someone please tell me what's so bad about Neverland? It's just kids having fun and flying around, right? Isn't that what the story says?" Leroy asked them, his ax on his shoulder, ready to fight.

"Peter Pan is a demon, the worst evil you'll find..." Gold replied, slightly paler as Bella went to support him.

"What do you mean? Who is he?" Emma asked.

"You should tell them Rumple, so he can't use it against you... You know he will..." Bella told him.

"Your father told you?" He asked her and when she nodded, he looked at the others and said:

"Peter Pan used to be an adult named Malcolm. He had a son and spent all of his time gambling and drinking. One day, he left his son with two nice seamstress, telling him that he'd be back once he had enough money for them to start over but it was a lie. The boy worked so well that as a reward, he got a magic bean. He went to find his father and the man used it to go to a land he used to know when he was a kid. Together they arrived in Neverland but the man couldn't fly if he was an adult so he used Pixy dust and the magic of the Island to turn back into a teenage boy. The problem was that a child couldn't have a child so he asked the shadow to take his son back to the Enchanted Forest, far away from him. The little boy dropped his doll as he was taken away and watched his father grab it. From that day, Malcolm changed his name to what his son had named the doll: Peter Pan. I was that boy. I only saw my father once after that day, when he tried to take my son away from him so he could have company in Neverland." Gold explained to them.

"Wow, never thought I'd ever feel sorry for you, mate..." Hook shook his head.

"He's really that bad then?" Snow asked.

"Pan might look like a boy but he's a bloody demon. If he shakes your hand, you might want to count your fingers and check for poison." Hook replied.

"Are we ready to go Captain?" Smee asked him.

"Aye, if we're all here, it's time to go back to hell." Hook replied with a sharp nod.

"Let's go... Henry's waiting for us." Emma nodded.

"I can feel that Henry found the mirror I sent in his pocket but he's not alone yet. I hope he won't show it to anyone... We don't want him to get caught, Pan could use it against us..." Bella informed them as Hook sailed his Jolly Roger away from town and through the portal he had just created.

"Time to face my demons it seems." Rumple whispered and Bella put her hand on his shoulder:

"You're not alone, not anymore. Remember that Belle, Neal, Henry and I are your family, not Pan."

Gold nodded and gave her one of his rare sincere smiles.

* * *

><p><strong>Here we are, I don't know how much longer this will be... Maybe no more than a couple of chapters if inspiration doesn't strike... Or I might just pause it until I am inspired again. Do you want me to finish it (and maybe take it back up later) or to pause it and finish it eventually?<strong>

**Review?**

**Lorelei Candice Black**


	6. Chapter 6

**_6_**

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><p>On the ship, everyone was quiet. They had just gotten to Neverland and for now, the sea was calm. They were slowly making their ways to the Island and everyone was thoughtful, for one reason or another.<p>

Leroy was cleaning his ax, David was showing his daughter some moves and Hook was telling everyone about the dangers of Neverland and what they had to be careful about.

Bella, for her part, was thinking about August and that one time, when they had spent the entire day on a small boat. It had been a great time for her and she couldn't keep the memory away. It was still hard to believe for her, that she wouldn't see him ever again and she was missing him even more on this ship. She could almost imagine him coming behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and whispering in her ear that he loved her... He would have come with them to get Henry back if he had still been himself, she knew it.

"You're okay Bella?" Snow asked her and Bella quickly dried the one tear she had on her cheek.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just... old memories coming back, that's all." Bella replied, forcing a smile on her face.

"Of August?" Snow asked and Bella nodded silently.

"I'm sorry... It must be hard for you, this situation..." Snow started to say but stopped, not really knowing how to continue.

"I'll be fine eventually. I just need some time and a distraction. Rescuing Henry will do that, I hope." Bella smiled.

"I know that we just met but if you need someone to talk to, just know that I'm here." Snow told her softly before she joined her husband and daughter.

Bella knew what Snow was trying to do. She wanted to be a mother and since her daughter, Emma, was closing off, she was looking for someone else to mother. In any other circumstances, Bella might have played along and helped Snow resolve her issues but what had happened to August had changed that, it made her more selfish. She should have tried to call him more, she should have gone to find him sooner...

She had lost her love because she hadn't been worried sooner, because she had trusted that he was fine... She had believed him when she knew he was a good liar, that he would lie if he thought it would protect her. She should have checks on him sooner and now she had lost him and she was the only one to blame. Blaming Tamara had been easy but Bella now realized that she had been the one who caused his death.

She could have come, find him and been with him. She would have convinced him to regain the town, helped him turn back into a man of flesh and bones and when Neal arrived with Tamara, they would have been able to stop the woman before she hurt anyone... Even Henry being kidnapped was her fault.

Bella couldn't stand still and look at the sea anymore, she needed to move, to do something. She angrily dried her tears and turned around, looking at everyone, wondering if she should pretend she was interested in Hook's tales because his company soothed her pain or train with Emma and her parents. That's when, as if answering her need for action and her dilemma, mermaids started to attack them. The distraction had been short because between her powers and those of Gold, they had been quickly disposed of.

"But they're not dead, right?" Emma asked worriedly.

"Of course not. Some of them might be hurt a little but they'll heal quickly." Bella replied.

"Pan knows we're here, we can't sneak in anymore." Hook declared.

"Then we barge in." Emma decided.

.

Greg and Henry had landed in the water and managed to made it to shore. Of course Henry tried to use this occasion to make a run for it but Greg was fast and quickly caught him and tied him up tighter before he started making a fire to signal whomever the "Home office" was.

When a group of teenage boys arrived, Henry quickly guessed where they had landed and who the boys were. He wasn't sure who to trust but after the Lost Boys killed Greg in front of him, Henry tried to make a run for it, fearing for his own life. He was alone and didn't know the jungle he was in, the Lost Boys did and quickly caught up to him and brought him to their leader, Peter Pan.

One look at him and Henry knew that Peter Pan wasn't the hero that the Disney movie made him out to be. He was a villain, that much was obvious in his eyes and Henry knew that he couldn't trust him.

Pan ordered his boys to untie Henry and if Henry thought for a second that he'd be able to run, Pan made it clear that there was nowhere for him to run. They had patrols all around the camp, magical alarm systems that would warn Pan if he left the camp... Henry was free to come and go inside the camp, as long as someone could see him but he was warned that if he tried anything like running or fighting them, he'd lose and have to suffer through horrible consequences.

Henry was sitting on a log, away from the others and the move reminded him that he felt something in his pocket earlier when it had been empty all day. It was the first occasion he had to look at it since Pan and the Lost Boys seemed decided to leave him alone for now, probably giving him some time to get acclimated to everything. As he searched his pocket, Henry quickly found something cold and metallic. He looked around to make sure that everyone was looking somewhere else and he got it out, only to see that it was a mirror.

Immediately, Henry guessed that Bella or his grandfather must have done it at the last moment to be able to reach him. Since everyone was clearly noisily celebrating his capture, Henry figured that it was safe to try it and with crossed fingers he called out:

"Mom? Grandpa? Bella? Is anyone there?" Henry whispered, not really knowing how it worked and keeping the mirror hidden from sight.

.

"Mom? Grandpa? Bella? Is anyone there?" Bella heard coming from one of the pockets hanging from her father's belt as they followed Hook through the jungle.

She opened it and took the mirror out, calling everyone's attention to it.

"Henry? Are you okay? Don't trust Peter Pan. We're coming." Bella said quickly before giving the mirror to a worried Emma.

She figured that 'Don't trust Peter Pan.' and 'We're coming." were the most important things to tell him in case they were interrupted.

"I'm fine, apparently he wants me alive and unharmed. Where are you?" Henry asked them.

"We're in Neverland, don't worry Henry, we'll save you." Emma smiled at him, relieved to see him alive.

"Henry, it's very important that you don't trust Peter Pan, he's my father and the most evil person you'll ever meet, myself included. Whatever he needs from you can only be for evil reasons and you can't give it to him." Gold warned him.

"Okay... Wait he's coming back. I'll call back later when it's safe. Love you." Henry said quickly before all they could see was the inside of his pocket and then it turned off.

"Well, at least we know that he's fine and he knows we're here, so he won't lose hope." Hook nodded.

"He also knows to be careful and not to trust Pan. That's a good thing." David nodded.

"Yes, it is. Now, where is his camp?" Emma asked their pirate guide.

"Unfortunately, he keeps on moving it and it's very well protected... It won't be as easy as to cross the jungle and attacking his camp." Hook shook his head.

"Yes, even using my magic won't be safe here... Because we're blood, he'll be able to detect it, maybe even stop it. I can't even see the future because here, time stands still." Gold shook his head.

"Well, what do we do then?" Leroy asked but before anyone could make a suggestion, Gold rose his hand to ask for their silence.

"You all need to hide, I feel someone coming. I think it's one of the Lost boys... Maybe I can get something out of him, or make him think I'm not working with you. Don't make a sound until he's gone." Gold replied as Bella used her powers to cloak them all while Gold went to sit on a large rock.

After a couple of minutes of silence, The Dark One said:

"Come on out and say _hello_ dearie. Felix, of course you're the one he sent. Still not tired of locking his boots, are you?" He added once a teenage boy, a hood hiding his face, walked out of the tree line with some sort of wooden mace on his shoulder.

When he arrived, Bella felt Hook, who was by her side, tense and the way he wrapped his hand in a fist, she guessed that he wanted to go after the boy. They probably had history because even Smee was tensed and had a hand on his sword. Hoping it would sooth him, Bella placed her hand on the pirate Captain's arm and tried to ignore the fact that he was now looking at her, an entirely softer (and confused) look on his face.

"Rumpelstiltskin... Pan wanted me to welcome you on his Island and to tell you that he's very excited to have you here." An arrogant teenage boy replied.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure he is." Gold rolled his eyes sarcastically.

"He wanted me to let you know that you're welcome in Neverland for as long as you wish to stay, with only one condition." Felix declared with a confident smirk.

"There's always something with him, doesn't surprise me." Gold replied and waved for Felix to continue, as if he wasn't really worried about what the boy was about to tell him.

"If you're here for the boy... well, that makes you Pan's enemy." Felix finished.

"Then nothing's changed." Gold growled.

"If you go against Him, you know you won't survive." Felix reminded him with fake concern.

"The question isn't if I survive or not, because we both know I won't and I've made my peace with that. No, the real question is how many of you I take down with me." Gold replied with an amused chuckle.

"So is that your answer to Him?" Felix asked seriously.

"That's my answer." Gold nodded.

"Then I suppose it means I'll see you again... In much less friendly circumstances." Felix told him.

"Count on it." Gold smirked.

Felix then turned around and took a couple of steps before he turned back towards Gold and said:

"One last thing: There's something he wanted you to have." As he said this, Felix threw a little hand made doll on the ground at the Dark One's feet and they could all see the emotion on his face as the powerful man dropped to his knees to take it in his shaking hands.

It was obviously hurting him since the powerful man had tears dropping from his eyes and it made Felix smile as he added:

"Isn't it funny? The things we haven't thought about in years, still have the ability to make us cry. See you around, _Dark One_." He chuckled, mocking his nickname.

As soon as Felix was far enough, Bella lifted the cloaking spell and rushed to his side.

"Is that the doll you dropped? The one he named himself after?" Bella asked him.

"Yes, it is..." Gold whispered.

"It took everything I had not to kill that boy... I hate him almost as much as I hate Pan. I owe him a few death." Hook shook his head.

"Will his fate be the same as Rufio Captain?" Smee asked him excitedly.

"What I did to Rufio will look like child's play next to what I have planned for Felix shall he ever cross our way again." Hook replied to his first mate.

"Why couldn't we just jump on him and get rid of him right now then if you all want to kill him?" Leroy asked as he moved his ax from one shoulder to the other.

"Because it wouldn't be wise, Felix is Pan's right hand man. His second in command. Going after him would mean declaring war on Pan and it would only push him into something that might hurt Henry." Gold shook his head.

"Then we wait... let's go and find a place high up to try and locate his camp." Emma decided.

They walked for several minutes before Hook held David back with his hook and Gold back with his hand.

"I can handle a few thorns." David rolled his eyes.

"It's not the thorns you have to worry about, it's the poison they inject you with. It's the same poison I used to try and kill Rumpelstiltskin. In its natural form, your death would take much longer and far more painful." Hook explained.

"Well, I suppose I should thank you for keeping me from going through it a second time." Gold nodded.

While everyone made their way around the poisonous bush, Bella took a small vial out and filled it with the poison, feeling that it might end up useful one day and, once she was done, she put some of the berries of this same bush in one of the belt's empty pockets. She'd be able to use them to try and make it grow, it would be great to keep people off of a property.

"Planning on using that on someone in particular, Love?" Hook asked her.

"Not really, but it could be useful, we never know. Especially if it can't be cured." Bella replied.

"Well, that's not exactly true Love. A cure exist on the Island."

"It does? What is it?" She asked him.

"Water, a hidden water spring on top of Dead Man's skull. But there's a deadly price for using it... Once you drink it, you can't ever leave this realm or the poison will take your life the minute you leave." Hook explained and Bella could see from the emotion on his face and in his voice that he was speaking from personal experience.

"Who did you lose because of it?" She asked him.

"My brother." He replied before he hurried his steps to create more distance between them, not feeling like speaking about it too much.

.

They walked for a few more hours until they reached one of the highest points of the Island and discovered that the jungle hid Pan's camp very well. They couldn't just cross the jungle of course, it would be too hard and dangerous if they considered all the creatures that lured in the darkness.

"Isn't there another way?" Snow asked.

"I can't use magic to find it or get us to it, he'll block me." Gold shook his head.

"What about Tink Captain?" Smee asked and everyone turned to look at them.

"Tinkerbell?" Emma and Bella asked in one voice.

"You know her?" Killian asked Bella.

"Of course I know her, ever kid in our world knows her." Bella replied, nodding her head.

"Pan trusts her Captain, she'd be able to show us the way to the camp..." Smee insisted.

"If she's willing to help that is." Hook added.

"Do you have a bad history with her or something?" Bella asked him, trying to figure out why he seemed reluctant to get her help.

"Not really. We crossed path a couple of times but we don't really have that big of an history..." He shook his head.

"Then why do you look so reluctant to find her?" Leroy asked in his usual grumpy voice.

"Because she has a bit of a temper and I don't want to get your hopes up. If we catch her in a bad mood, she won't help us." Hook replied.

"At least we can try. We might be able to convince her to help, find something she wants..." Bella argued and the Charming's nodded.

"As you wish, milady." Hook told Bella with a charming smile before he led the way for them.

"He likes you?" Emma told Bella.

"What? Who likes me?" She replied, confused.

"Hook!" Emma insisted while Snow, who was by her side, nodded.

"What? No, I told you before, we just shared a few drinks, nothing happened." Bella shook her head.

"I didn't say that something happened, I'm just saying that he likes you a lot and I'm sure that he'd love for something to go on with you two." Emma replied.

"Do you think we're far from Tinkerbell's place? I wonder if she lives in an actual house or in a flower like in the movies..." Bella asked, a small blush on her cheeks.

"And you're not trying to avoid the subject or anything..." Snow chuckled.

"Listen, maybe, just maybe, I like Killian and feel like, given time, something could happen between us but the key word here is '_given time_'. I still need time to get over August... It still hurts me too much to think about him. Being with anyone else right now... It's just not possible." Bella shook her head.

"See, was that so hard to admit?" Emma smiled at her.

"From the looks of things, I think he knows that and is going to give you the time you need." Snow added with a smile.

"True, and he doesn't look like the kind of man who likes to give up. I mean, he did wait over 200 years to kill Gold..." Emma shook her head.

"My Captain is, indeed, a very patient man Milady. I know him very well and I can assure you that he does like you, a lot. He'll wait as long as you need. Don't worry, he won't hear of this little conversation." Smee said with a small smile as he stepped around them to reach to front of the line where Charming and Leroy were speaking with Hook while Gold walked on his own, deep in thoughts.

"I didn't even notice he was behind us..." Snow shook her head.

"He better keep his mouth shut." Bella said with a blush.

The group walked for a couple of hours until they arrived in front of a Tree house.

"Well, look who decided to come back? What are you doing here Hook? Did you miss the ambiance?" Tinkerbell asked him.

"We're not exactly here on vacation. We need your help." Hook replied.

"If you're here about the man, he's already dead. All I could salvage from his body was this watch. The Lost Boys got to him already. I can't help you." She shook her head.

"His name was Greg Mendel and he kidnapped my son for Pan. We want to get him back before Pan does anything to him." Emma explained.

"And why would I help you? What is it exactly you think I can do to help?" The green fairy asked them.

"Because Pan trusts you, you know how to get to his camp." Hook replied.

"So what? I break his trust and show you to his camp? What does that get me other than a death sentence from Pan once you're gone, or dead yourselves?" She asked him.

"You could come with us, back home." Snow suggested.

"Do you even have a way to get home? A way to leave this realm?" Tinkerbell asked them.

"We do." Bella nodded.

"Come on Tink. You might not know this but Henry, the boy Pan took, his not only Swan's boy. His father is Baelfire." Hook said, trying one last thing to convince the fairy.

"Bae? He's alive?" Tinkerbell asked.

"He... The people who took Henry hurt him." Emma replied, shaking her head.

"Your son is also his?" Tinkerbell asked Emma who nodded.

"You were close to my son..." Gold declared and Tinkerbell nodded.

"Even if I wanted to help you, we can't talk here, Lost Boys keep on coming around all the time. We need a safer place to talk." Tinkerbell shook her head.

"Where?" David asked.

"I'd suggest Baelfire's place but I don't know where it was... Even Pan doesn't know, and that's saying something." The fairy replied.

"I do." Hook said and Smee nodded.

"You do? But... If you knew where Bae was hiding, why did it take you so long to leave Neverland? Telling Pan would have guarantied you an immediate way out of Neverland..." Tinkerbell asked him, not confused.

"I couldn't let Pan get him back. He was Milah's son... I waited until he left on his own before I took Pan's offer on a deal and got out of here." Killian replied in a quiet voice, as if afraid to reveal the best parts of him.

"Well then let's go. The sooner we're there, the faster we can plot a way to get Henry back." Leroy insisted and everyone nodded and followed Hook and Smee on the way.

.

When they arrived, Hook showed them how to open the door and they all entered. It was an emotional for Gold, who was discovering a new side of his son's life as well as for Emma, who could still feel him close to her when in this place.

"I didn't know he could draw..." Emma whispered, looking at a wall.

"He got that from his mother. Milah was a great artist." Hook replied while Gold touched the mattress and closed his eyes, probably imagining his son sleeping on it.

"So, I can get you inside his camp but do you even have a plan? These boys are ruthless and the arrow they stick you with are coated with dream shade. It will definitely end up killing you." Tinkerbell declared once they were all inside the small space.

"And his shadow. We have to be careful, the shadow can kill us." Smee reminded them.

"I know that Baelfire had some sort of candle hidden in a coconut to keep the shadow trapped. That's how he escaped. It's probably still around her somewhere." Hook explained.

"We need to form two teams then. One team stays here and look for the candle and someone needs to go to get the water that heals Dream-shade." Bella decided.

"I told you Bella, it's not permanent, once you leave the land, the poison will kill you." Hook shook his head.

"But with enough water with us, Rumpel and I will be able to make a permanent antidote. Taking some with us will definitely help." Bella explained, speaking directly to him.

"Fine. Bella, you go with Hook to get the water, we'll stay here, find the candle and use it to trap the shadow. We all meet back here when we're done." David decided.

"Okay. Do you know where to go to find the shadow?" Bella nodded.

"Yes, sadly, I do." Tinkerbell nodded.

"So do I." Smee added.

"Wait, here Emma, take this mirror, it's also spelled. If something happens or the plans change, we use it to contact each other. I'm sure Henry will call for you if he gets an occasion to." Bella suggested as she took a small mirror out of her bag and gave it to Emma after making it shine.

"Do you have something to put the water into?" Gold asked Bella who nodded:

"I had a few small water bottle. They're empty now so it'll be perfect." Bella informed him.

"Very well. Be careful." Rumpel told Bella who nodded and told him the same thing.

She knew that Pan would be on the look out for them and that he would try to hurt them or to put them against each other. They'd have to be careful and ready to defend themselves against Pan's boys.

Fighting teenage boys with real weapons didn't seem right to Bella but if they were willing to use deadly poison against them, they were justified. Maybe she'd be able to use magic on them and force them all to fall asleep at the same time.

"Ready Bella?" Killian asked her, a gleam in his eyes telling her that he'd use the fact they were alone to flirt with her some more.

"Yep, let's go." She nodded, wondering if she'd be able to stay focused on the mission with Killian flirting with her.

Already, the pirate was starting a casual conversation with her and Bella couldn't help but enjoy it. She felt guilty for feeling the way she did in Killian's presence but at the same time, didn't August leave her, lying to her and keeping her in the dark? Was it so bad if she started to fall for another man?

Sure, she still loved August, just like Killian probably still loved Milah but at some point, she'd have to move on. She was still young and could still make a life for herself. get married, have children...

But then again, maybe Killian wasn't it, maybe all he wanted from her was a one night stand... Shaking her head, she chased these thoughts from her head, refusing to face them. Now wasn't the time. She'll take a few minutes to think about it once Henry was safe and they were all back in Storybrook.

Then, she'd take the time to find a place to stay, a place to make her own and only then would she consider moving on from August. If Killian really cared about her and wanted more than flirting, he'd wait that long, otherwise, it would be a sing that he wasn't the one and that she had to wait some more.

* * *

><p><strong>So, what did you think?<strong>

**I don't know if this is going to be much longer... I might just pause it for a while until I decide on the right way to go... Next chapter might be the last before a while...**

**Reviews are always appreciated.**

**Lorelei Candice Black**


	7. Chapter 7

**_Lost and Found_**

**_ part 7_**

* * *

><p>Bella and Killian had just filled the bottles with magical water from the spring when Emma called them on the mirror. When they got back from getting the shadow, which had been much faster than they had thought it would be, they had found Neal's jacket, the one he was wearing when he fell through the portal, lying on the ground in front of the cave's hidden entrance. Snow could see the tracks and they were following it. Bella and Killian hurried and ran as fast as they could to catch up with Emma and the others, only to stop in front of the Echo caves.<p>

"This can't be good..." Tinkerbell shook her head.

"We lost half our crew in there the last time Captain..." Smee said as he shook with fear.

"Whatever Pan has planned for us, it can't be good." Hook replied before he explained to them what this cave did before leading the way inside.

They all followed him, except Smee who offered to stay outside and keep watch. Once they were all standing in front of the deepest hole they had ever seen, they looked up to see Neal on the other side of the hole, sitting in a cage.

"So, what's the plan? I tried using my powers and it doesn't work." Bella asked Killian.

"I told you what needed to be done. We need to reveal a secret. The biggest the secret is, the bigger its echo will be." Hook said.

"So... Anyone wants to kick things off?" David asked, looking around nervously.

"I suppose I can do it." Killian nodded, knowing that being the first to speak in a situation like this one was hard and willing to show Bella that he could be a good man.

"I never thought that I'd ever be able to move on from my first love, my Milah. That's until I met you, Bella. What I felt when I first saw you, I had never experienced before in my life. It was like for the first time, I could see the sun shining on my dark life. I know you're going through something, that you need time to get over your loss but I do Love you and I'm not going anywhere. When you're ready to be with someone again, I'll be there. I won't give up and I'll do anything in my power to make you happy, even if you never love me back." Killian hadn't looked away from Bella while he spoke and when he was done everything shook, revealing a portion of the bridge to get to Neal in his cage.

Bella blushed and didn't know what to answer. She was about to open her mouth to tell him that she was flattered and needed some time but that she would give him a chance eventually when Leroy said:

"My turn next. I'm still in Love with Nova. I know that Blue doesn't want to let us be together because Nova's a fairy and I'm a dwarf but I can't help my feelings. I love her, dream of us together every night and go out of my way everyday just to cross her and see her smile at me. Actually, that happens twice a day because I found a way to _accidentally_ cross her in the afternoon as well." Leroy spoke very quickly.

"Blue's an idiot, I lost my wings because of her and her overly strict rules. If she had let me do what I wanted to do, Regina would have moved on in love, she'd have never cast her curse and I'd still be a fairy." Tinkerbell said, rolling her eyes in the process just before everything shook and another part of the bridge was revealed.

"Leroy, I'm sure that we'll find a solution to this... We'll speak with Blue... If Nova shares your feelings... There has to be a solution." Snow told him with a gentle smile and he nodded.

There was still a part of the bridge missing and Gold stepped forward while Bella stayed silently next to Killian.

"I guess I can complete this bridge. It's no secret that I've done horrible things in order to get my son back but there is one thing I've learned when I thought that Bae was dead: I'd rather die and know that he's alive and well rather than lose him again. A long time ago, shortly after Bae fell in the portal, I went to see a seer who told me that the boy who'll reunite me with my son would be my undoing. This boy is Henry. I've spent my entire life sure that when I met this boy, whoever he'd be, that I'd kill him but when I found out that he was my grandson... I couldn't. That's why I came here, that's what I separated from my shadow and gave it my dagger before we left the ship. I will save Henry, and now that Neal's back, I'll save him as well. I won't survive this trip, Belle knows it, I left her a letter explaining everything and she'll find it eventually. I'm living my last days and I'm at peace with that, because I know that not only is it the right thing, but I deserve it after everything I've done in my life." The Dark one explained, making the rest of the bridge complete itself.

They knew that he was saying the truth, that he was determined to die in order to protect his son and his grandson and it moved them all, especially Neal who had heard everything from his cage.

Bella waited until Emma reached Neal safely before she told the others that she'd wait outside and asked Killian to follow her there.

"I... You're right, I'm not ready to move on yet... I mean, I do feel something for you. Don't get me wrong, I know it's there but... I need some time to sort through everything, especially the guilt. I just want you to know that when I'm ready, you will have your chance because I can see past the pirate. I know that you're also a man of honor, a good man, behind this pirate facade." She told him, blushing and looking down as she spoke.

"Thank you, it means a lot to me that you'd say that." He nodded, replacing a loose strand of her hair softly, brushing her cheek on the way.

"I... If you want... I mean, it's the same to me, I just want you to know that if you want your hand back, once we're back in Storybrook, I can give it to you. I know that Rumple kept it in a jar that's in his shop... I... I mean, I'll still like you if you keep your hook, it has nothing to do with me or anything..." She added quickly, feeling like she wasn't being very clear with her words.

"I... I'd like that." he nodded with a smile on his face, already imagining Bella in his arms and being able to touch her with both of his hands.

They were silent for a while, ignoring Smee who wasn't far behind them and when everyone finally came out of the cave, Bella and Hook finally broke their gazing at each other and they went back to Neal's cave to plan what they would do next.

.

"How do you plan on leaving?" Neal asked them once they were all inside the cave.

"I have a bean." Bella assured him.

"Good. So what's the plan?" He asked.

"Tinkerbell gets us in the camp, Bella uses her magic to put the Lost boys to sleep while I call my shadow back. Pan will sense her magic and it will hide mine. Then I fight my father, kill us both. You all go back home with Henry." Gold summarized.

"Isn't there a way to defeat Pan and keep you alive Papa?" Neal asked his father.

"It's the only way. You can only kill Pan if you're willing to die too and if we don't kill him, he'll keep on coming back after Henry. We can't have that." Gold shook his head.

"Okay crocodile, I know that we're not friends, far from it and that we're only starting to tolerate each other but if there's one thing I've learned from their hero type is that there is always another solution." Hook replied.

"He's right. All we need is a way to make Pan prisoner, then we can take him back with us and if we take him across the town line, since he doesn't have his shadow, it'll kill him and we'll be rid of him." Bella nodded.

"Well, I've already tried to use squid ink on him and it didn't last very long. It won't be enough to take him all the way back home." Neal shook his head.

"I have something that could help, Pandora's box... But it's in my shop, back in Storybook." Gold told them.

"Going back to get it and coming back here would take too much time, we need something else..." Emma shook her head.

"And Pan would definitely sense us leaving and try to block us from coming back." Smee added.

"Maybe we can try and get a mermaid to go and get it for us..." Snow suggested.

"The same ones who tried to kill us when we arrived? Mermaids can't be trusted, especially here." Hook reminded her.

"I might know of one... I'm sure you remember Ariel, Snow? Regina took her voice away to punish her for helping you escape but I can give it back to her, and give her legs... Her Prince is in Storybrook so that will be enough to convince her to help us, especially if you're with me when I ask her..." Gold explained.

"Okay then, we do that and when we have it, we rush to the camp and get Henry back." Emma nodded.

"No, we need to do something else first. No matter what we do to Pan and the Lost boys, Pan's shadow will come after us and kill us if we're not careful. I have a way to keep it prisoner." Neal said.

"The coconut, yes Hook told us. We already used it. We have the shadow." David nodded.

"You do? Great. Then I guess we can all go." Neal smiled.

"I just hope this Ariel can be trusted, my experience with mermaids isn't that good." Hook said.

"If she's anything like the Ariel from our world's tales, I love her already. Little Mermaid was always one of my favorite Disney movies." Bella smiled.

"The Disney movie is pretty good but the actual book isn't that happy... The evil squid witch wins in the book." Emma told Bella.

"I know, that's why I pretend this book doesn't exist. I'm all for happy endings and when a story doesn't have what I think is the proper happy ending, I just pretend it ends the way I want it to end." Bella replied with a smile.

"Always looking at things on the bright side... I should try it." Emma nodded.

.

The way to the beach was quiet. Neal was walking by hi father's side, talking together, catching up and making peace. Hook was walking behind them, with David. Snow and Tinkerbell were right behind them and Bella and Emma were closing the walk, both trying to avoid any romantic conversation they weren't quite ready for yet. Bella used the time to give Emma advises on how to use her magic.

"I'm getting better, I even managed to light the fire last night!" Emma reminded Bella.

"I know... What do you say we try something a bit funnier while we walk?" Bella suggested.

"What do you have in mind?" Emma asked her with a small smile.

"Let's mess with them a bit... Try to get Neal's jacket in your hands." Bella whispered, pointing to the boys.

"Okay, I can do that." Emma nodded before she tried to concentrate.

"Hey, what happened to my belt?" Neal called out a few seconds later, making Bella laugh.

Everyone turned to look at Bella who was laughing while Gold, who seemed to already know the answer, chuckled.

"Emma, I said get his jacket, not his belt!" Bella exclaimed in laughter.

"I don't know what happened! I swear I was trying to get his jacket!" Emma replied, looking in confusion at the belt in her hand.

"Perhaps you couldn't concentrate on his jacket because your mind was thinking about something else..." Hook smirked, amused by this.

"Let's... let's go back to finding this mermaid... I think I'm done practicing for the day." Emma replied with a blush, giving Neal his belt back without looking him in the eyes.

Bella shared an amused smile with Killian before she followed Emma.

When they finally arrived, Rumpelstiltskin called for Ariel and with Snow by his side, told her what they needed from hr. of course she agreed and promised to come back as soon as possible. While they waited, they light a fire and Bella decided to take a step forward in their plan. She destroyed the shadow by throwing the coconut in the fire's flames. The flames turned blue and green for a few seconds and they knew that the shadow had been destroyed.

"Do you think that Pan felt this?" Emma asked Neal.

"I don't know... I hope so." He replied.

"At the very least it has weakened him. He can be killed much easier now." Killian added.

"Good, one less insufferable brat will do everyone some good around here." Tinkerbell replied, shaking her head.

They waited for a little less than a day before Ariel came back with the box Gold wanted. They had taken the time t rest and talk about various subject and as soon as they had Pandora's box, protected by Emma and Bella's light magic so pan couldn't steal it, they made their ways to the camp, warning Henry quietly about what was about to happen.

After that, everything happened very fast. Break into the camp, put the Lost boys to sleep, put Pan into the box, rescue Henry. There were a few surprises, like the presence of Neal's old friend Wendy but everything went pretty well for them all. When the Lost boys finally woke up, they were tied up and given the choice to go back with them and find a home, a family, or stay on the Island. Since Felix was the only one who wanted to stay, they let him, knowing that without the shadow, he wouldn't be able to leave anytime soon.

They walked out of the camp, leaving Felix behind, not caring about checking what he was doing. None of them saw him following them and coming aboard the ship.

.

"So everything went pretty well... are you okay? I mean, I couldn't help but notice how pensive you looked." Hook told her as they sailed away from the land to use one of her beans to go back home.

"I'm fine... Just thinking about my life, my past and what I thought my future would be like... I can see myself in these boys... I just hope they'll all find a welcoming and understanding home." She replied.

"I'm sure they will, and if not, there's always a solution. You'll find it." He smiled at her.

"What about you, are you going to stay in Storybrook or are you going to go back to pirating?" Bella asked him.

"I thought I made that very clear when I told you I loved you in the Echo caves. I'm not going anywhere unless that's where you're going as well." He told her, looking at her with so much intensity that it made her blush and look down.

.

Felix waited until everyone had left the ship to go to their welcome back party at Granny's dinner before he left his hiding spot on the Jolly Roger to spy on the other lost boys. He got very angry when he saw that they had truly all switched sides but he got even angrier when the Savior released Pan outside town, where there was no magic. There, without his shadow to protect him and keep him alive, Pan died quickly.

A revenge plan already forming in his head, Felix used what little magic Pan had taught him to locate the Evil Queen's vault. As he entered it, Felix didn't notice a silent alarm, that David and Emma had installed after Regina's death and that was tied to a modern surveillance system, turning it on and filming his every moves in the dead queen's vault. He looked around for a while before he finally found what he was looking for:

the dark curse that had created this town.

He knew that casting it would cost him his life since now that Pan was dead the one he loved most was himself, but he didn't care, he was willing to die to avenge Peter and give them all hell for killing him. He would crush his own heart and curse the entire town to a terrible fate.

.

"What's going on, why did you ask us here?" Bella asked Emma when she arrived at the station the next morning, at the same time as Hook (who had come from his own room at Granny's).

Emma's parents, Neal, Gold and Ruby were there as well. Without realizing what she was doing, Bella went to stand by Killian's side.

"Felix broke into Regina's vault. Look what the camera got." Emma said, playing the tape for them.

"What is he holding?" Bella asked.

"The curse. The scroll Regina used to cast the curse." Gold replied.

"THE curse?" Ruby asked.

"Do you think he's going to cast it?" David asked.

"Maybe he already did... The ideal spot would be the wishing well..." The Dark One replied.

"I'll call Leroy and ask him to check it out." Snow nodded.

Of course they found out that Felix had, indeed, cast the curse and killed himself in the process. In order to save them all, Gold, who had created the curse, could destroy it but it would take everyone back in the Enchanted Forest.

Emma would have to stay behind with her son and since Neal didn't come with the curse, he could also escape it. They would get new memories and be happy together.

"Can't we use one of Bella's beans to go in the Enchanted Forest on our own?" Henry asked.

"Sadly, Felix's curse is already blocking any other portals... And bringing us back will block any portals in the Enchanted Forest..." Gold shook his head.

"Don't worry, I think I know how to bring you back to the Enchanted Forest later. I'll go with Killian to find his ship since we don't know where the curse will take it, then we'll sail it far enough from the Enchanted Forest and use one of my beans to get back here. I'm sure Rumple can work on a memory potion for the three of you in the mean time." Bella told Emma.

"I'll make sure you remember Bella and Killian as old friends of yours. Friends you made soon after meeting each others." Rumple promised.

"And here I thought I'd be the one who'd have to follow you..." Killian told Bella, who smiled.

"This doesn't mean anything yet, you know that right?" She asked him.

"Of course." he nodded.

If they didn't have much time to prepare for their departure back in the Enchanted Forest, Bella packed her most precious possessions in her backpack and kept it on her. She'd track down the rest later with her magic.

When the time for Rumpelstiltskin to destroy the scroll came, Emma had said goodbye to everyone and had crossed the town's line with her son and her first love, waiting for their memories to be gone before they drove off.

Right before they were taken in the smoke, Killian hooked his arm around Bella's waist, assuring her with a smirk that he was only doing it so they'd land in the same place. She only shook her head and let the warmth of his arm reassure her as she was taken to the place she had been born in.

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><p><strong>One more chapter, after that, I think it'll be over.<strong>

**Review please?**

**Lorelei Candice Black**

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	8. Chapter 8

_**Lost and Found **_

_**Part 8**_

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><p>Bella opened her eyes to see that they were all back in the Enchanted Forest. She could still feel Killian's arm around her waist, even if what was between his arm and her skin felt different, and her bag was still on her shoulder. Her clothes however, had changed, much like everyone else's. She was now wearing a dress, a corset and had a cloak as well.<p>

"We're back... We're really back..." Snow said.

Everyone was back in the clothes they had been wearing back when the first curse hit.

"I'm really thankful this curse didn't give me the clothes I was wearing at the time..." Bella shook her head.

"I made sure you'd have something a little more appropriate." Rumpelstiltskin replied with an amused smile.

"Why? What were you wearing?" Killian asked her.

"I was a couple of hours old... I was wearing my birthday suit." She smiled.

"And what a nice suit it must be." Killian told her with a teasing smile, making her blush and chuckle.

Immediately, everyone started to get organized, with the help of Prince Philippe and his wife Aurora who apparently knew Snow and were willing to help them.

Bella started to look around and went to see Rumpel and Belle who were getting ready to go their own way. He told her where her father's house was, in case she wanted to stop there to see if she could find something useful there, and then told her goodbye, promising to stay in touch through the mirror and warn her as soon as he had the memory potions ready. He also promised her to come immediately if she needed rescuing.

Before he left though, the Dark One went to speak with Hook and since the pirate would help bring his son back here, the Dark One gave him his hand back, no strings attached. The gesture surprised the pirate greatly.

"Keep an eye on her, keep her safe. That's all I ask in return." Rumpelstiltskin told the pirate, pointing to Bella.

"You have my word." Killian nodded.

After the Dark One's departure, The dwarfs received orders from Snow and Charming and left, probably spreading word of what needed to be done to the people who had arrived somewhere else.

"So, we're going to head to Regina's old castle since according to Aurora, it's still intact. She probably protected it but we'll find a way to break in. Snow's done it before, she can do it again." David started.

"My mom did it too and she didn't need to use her magic for it... She wrote how she did it in her journal and I have it in my bag... Wait a second, here. It'll help you." Bella said, searching in her bag and giving Snow her mother's journal.

"Thank you, I'll keep it safe and give it back to you as soon as you come back." Snow promised.

Bella just nodded.

"Rumpelstiltskin and Belle are already heading back to his own castle and prepare the memory potions. He'll send them to you by bird as soon as they're done, or he'll deliver them on his own, I don't know..." David told Bella.

"Yes, we've already talked about it and arranged everything." Bella nodded.

"Okay, good. Do you know what you'll do now?" Snow asked Bella in a concerned voice.

"Yes, don't worry. Killian, Smee and I will go and look for the Jolly Roger. Start with the places he used to stay, we'll see. Since the ship is made of Enchanted wood, we won't be able to track it with magic but I'm sure we'll find it quickly. We'll keep you informed with the mirror." Bella nodded.

"When are you leaving?" Snow asked them.

"As soon as the lady is ready to go." Killian replied.

He was by his side while Smee finished getting their 3 horses ready.

"I just need to speak with Gepetto and Pinocchio and I'll be good to go." Bella nodded.

"Smee and I will wait by the horses then." Hook nodded at her, understanding her need to check on them both.

Bella gave the Charming's one last hug and joined the man who almost became her father in law. Despite the short time she had spent with him, she already cared deeply for the man and she knew that he did, too. Maybe it was because they both loved his son, maybe it was because they were always meant to be family, one way or another.

"Bella, I heard that you weren't going back to the castle with us?" Gepetto asked her.

"No, I'm going to look for the Jolly Roger with Hook and work on bringing Emma, Neal and Henry back here. I just wanted to check on the two of you before we left." She smiled.

"You make sure to be safe, alright? Pinocchio and I want to see you again. Healthy and safe." He replied, giving her a paternal hug.

"I will, don't worry." She nodded, giving a side glance at Hook who was waiting for her.

"It's okay to move on, you know? My boy wouldn't want you to wait forever, especially since there's someone who cares truly for you. I can see you like him too." He added, making her blush.

"You're probably right. Aug... I mean, Pinocchio will be alright, won't he?" She asked.

"Don't worry child, he'll be fine. We'll stay at the palace with Snow and the Prince. We'll see you when you come back." Gepetto old her, hugging her one last time before she went to say goodbye to Pinocchio, who hugged her tightly and asked her to be safe as well.

If the little boy didn't remember his past relationship with Bella, he still liked her a lot, like a friend, or like family and he didn't want to see her getting hurt.

"Ready to go Bella?" Killian asked her when she joined them.

"Yes, let's go." She nodded, getting on her horse.

"You're okay?" He asked her, getting on his own horse.

"Yes, I'm fine. I just hope we'll be able to get back to them quickly. I have a bad feeling..." Bella replied.

"What kind of bad feeling?" He asked her as they started riding side by side, Smee behind them.

"I'm not sure... But something really bad is coming our way and I think that we have to find Emma and bring her back here as soon as possible or it'll get really bad for everyone." She replied.

"Well, I believe your instinct is to be trusted but don't worry, we'll find the Jolly Roger, get back to the other realm, find Emma, Neal and Henry, bring them back... We'll succeed." He reassured her, making her smile when she noticed the level of confidence he had in her.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to stop by my father's old house on the way, see what's happened to it, if there's anything that was left behind and maybe even see my mother's grave..." Bella asked after they had been on the road for a couple of hours.

"Of course, lead the way." He nodded.

Smee was still behind them, silently watching them bond and slowly getting closer.

When they arrived at her parent's house, she was happy to see that it was in pretty good shape.

"Charlie probably protected it with magic or something." Killian told her.

"Yes... probably..." She nodded, feeling very emotional when her eyes landed on the unmade, dusty bed.

She touched it with the tip of her fingers and closed her eyes.

"What is it?" Smee whispered.

"That's where I was born... Where my mother died..." Bella replied.

"Will you be alright?" Killian asked her and she nodded.

"I'll just... I'll go and look for her grave, can you look around for anything that could be useful please?" She asked him and he nodded.

A couple of hours later, Bella and her two traveling companions were back on the road. Before she left, she had set another protection spell on the little house, promising herself to come back there once everything was done.

.

The first town they stopped into was a bust. The few ships that were there weren't the one they were looking for and nobody had seen the Jolly Roger in a very long time.

"The last time I saw the Jolly Roger around these parts was before the Evil Queen's curse." An old man told them.

Most people said the same thing. Some had seen the Jolly Roger after the Queen's curse, before Hook left with Cora but nobody had seen it since everyone else had returned.

"Do we really need the Jolly Roger to leave this land? Can't we just use one of the beans here?" Smee asked Bella.

"No, because of the way we came back, we can't open portals here anymore. We have to sail away from the Enchanted Forest, go to another land, or in the middle of the see anyway." Bella replied, making Smee nod his understanding.

They ended up eating their meal in this town and taking a couple of rooms for the night before they left again the next morning.

It took them two weeks before they heard that a pirate Captain called Blackbeard had taken the Jolly Roger almost immediately after the curse dropped it off. Bella could guess that there was some bad history between Killian and Blackbeard with the face her companion made. She also understood that the other captain must be very scary since Smee looked like he wished he was a mice again so he cold run and hide far away.

"Are you sure about this?" Bella asked the man who had told them the information.

"Yes, he attacked the ship our prince Eric was on. I barely escaped." The man replied, showing them the knife he had stolen and giving it to Killian.

"Prince Eric? Ariel's prince?" Bella asked, surprised.

"You know our prince's fiance?"

"I know their story and I know she's one of Snow White's friends. Listen, you should go and warn them about what happened. tell them that Bella and Captain Hook, friends of Snow White, are looking for the Jolly Roger and will rescue Eric. We'll bring him back as soon as we have him." Bella told the man while Killian looked too angry for words.

"I could go with you Milady..."

"No, you need your rest. You're in no shape to go with us but don't worry, we'll be fine. I have magic." Bella told him.

The escaped soldier thanked them for the food and clothes they had procured for him and he rushed back to his King's castle to warn them about Prince Eric's fate.

"Didn't they just get reunited when we came back to Neverland? Their happiness was pretty short lived." Smee commented after the soldier had left.

"It's been just a little over two weeks, he must have rushed to the see quickly..." Bella shook her head.

"Well, when you have the sea in your blood Love, nothing can stop you." Killian told her with a smile.

Thankfully, Killian knew where Blackbeard liked to stop and it wasn't far from where they where. They immediately started riding there, planning on staying there as long as necessary to get Killian's ship back.

While they waited, pretending to be passing travelers, Bella wrote update messages to Snow White and Rumpelstiltskin and called two birds to send them. Then they went to get some dinner, listening to the conversations surrounding them in case they could hear something interesting to them.

"When Blackbeard arrives, people here will talk about it, trust me. It's how it works."

"I know... I trust you when you say it's the best but I can't help it... I don't like the idea of sleeping here." Bella shook her head, looking around.

"It's the only place in town." Smee told her.

"And it would be much more dangerous to sleep in the woods nearby. All those who can't afford a room sleep there." Killian shook his head.

"I don't feel much safer in here." She whispered so the people around them wouldn't hear her.

At this point, Smee indicated that he was going to look around town for a while and be back later and would find them.

"Hey, if it would make you feel safe, I'm all for sharing a room with you Love, you know that." The pirate offered, half joking to keep a good face if she was to refuse.

"I... Honestly, it's probably the only way I'd be able to sleep around here. If you're serious... I mean..." Bella replied, glancing around quickly before she looked back at Killian, blushed and looked down.

"You're serious? You want us to share a room, knowing that there is only one bed in the room and that the floor is too dirty for even a dog to sleep on it?" Killian asked her, suddenly more serious.

"I am. I mean, we won't... you know. Just sleep. But I'd feel safer knowing that I'm not alone." Bella nodded.

"Very well then, love. I'll go tell the own that we only need two of the three rooms after all." Killian told her.

As he walked away, Bella started to think back to the past two weeks and how close she had gotten to her pirate friend. He had a great sense of humor, was a good fighter, smart, good company... and definitely had a charm that was hard to resist. she had watched him ignore beautiful women everywhere they stopped, women that were more than willing to do anything he wanted with him. He had ignored them all, barely noticing them while he only had eyes for her. She, too, was having a harder time resisting him. More and more, she felt that she was moving on from the past, making room in her heart for Killian.

Killian came back and Bella and him played cards for a while, until Belle and Rumpelstiltskin arrived and gave them the memory potions.

"I made a couple of extra vials, just in case you lose or break one." The Dark One told Bella.

"Thank you. We should get the Jolly Roger back soon now." Bella nodded

"Yes, after receiving your message about Blackbeard I looked for him. Prince Eric has been dropped on Hangman's island not too long ago." Rumpel replied.

"We'll bring him back to his home as soon as we leave here so you don't have to worry about this." Belle added.

"And Blackbeard is heading this way because I sent him a message that I wanted to make a deal with him. I'm sure you'll find a way to get your ship back without my help." Rumpelstiltskin told the Dark One.

"Oh, that won't be a problem. Thank you." Killian replied.

After that Rumpelstiltskin warned Bella about the wicked witch Zelena being around the kingdom, planning something evil and using flying monkeys. He suggested limiting the messages by bird in case she decided to intercept them. he told them everything he knew about the woman in case they had to face her and when he and his love left soon after that, Bella was once more alone with Killian.

Smee eventually came back, with no big news and while Killian's first mate went to spend the night gambling with people he didn't know, Killian and Bella talked and had fun for a few more hours before going to bed.

Killian was a gentleman the entire time. He turned around while she changed and once they were in the bed, he stayed on the edge of his side, giving her all the room she could need.

Of course, through the night, they somehow changed positions and while Killian was sleeping on his back, still in the same place in the bad, Bella had moved closer to him and had her head on his chest while his hand was holding her in place, pressed against her waist.

When Bella woke up, Killian was still sleeping and when she realised the position she had moved into, she blushed but didn't move. Instead, she closed her eyes again and waited until Killian woke up, wanting to see what he would do. Killian woke up about 10 minutes later and hugged her closer to him, pressing a tender kiss against her head before gently placing her back against the pillow while he got up and started to get dressed.

Bella opened her eyes, enjoying the view.

"Good morning." She told him when he turned around and saw that she was awake.

"I didn't wake you up, did I? I was going to go ad get you breakfast..." He replied.

"No, you didn't wake me up. Give me a few minutes and I'll join you downstairs to get breakfast." She told him.

"Are you sure? I don't mind bringing some back to you." He argued.

"Listen Killian, I'm all for breakfast in bed as a romantic gesture but I don't think that this is the kind of establishment where it's worth it. Better save it for when we're in a better place." She shook her head with a smile.

"So what you're saying is that you're not opposed to us sharing a bed again?" He asked her, a hopeful smile on his face.

"Yes, that's what I'm saying. I... I'm not blind Killian, I see how close we've gotten and I know we're heading right into a relationship... I... I like being with you, spending time with you. I love that you can make me smile, even when I'm sad or that you can make me feel safe in any situation... I... I needed time, and you gave it to me, proving every occasion you had that you would wait... I think I'm done making you wait, if you're willing to move slowly." Bella told him after having taken a big breath before speaking.

"Bella, we can move at any speed you want." Killian told her, walking closer to her and taking her in his arms.

"You still need to turn around while I change though." She chuckled.

"Why? You watched me change!" he argued.

"You knew I was awake?" She exclaimed.

"Of course, I woke up about 15 minutes before you did. I was waiting to see how you'd react to your new sleeping position." he replied with a teasing smile before he surprised her with a kiss and told her he'd wait for her in the corridor.

.

"Captain, Blackbeard arrived about an hour ago." Smee told Killian and Bella a few minutes after they finished eating their breakfast.

"Good. We gather our things and move to get my ship back." Killian replied.

Bella nodded and soon, the three of them were walking to the ship.

"Oh, I've missed you Love... Don't worry, you'll soon be back in my loving hands." Killian whispered, eyeing the Jolly Roger.

"Should I be jealous?" Bella asked him, a teasing smile on her face.

"Nah, the Jolly Roger might be important to me Love, but at the end of the day, I'd willingly give her up for you." He replied and his sincerity was so obvious it made Bella smile.

"So Captain, what's the plan?" Smee asked him.

"Simple: I go and confront Blackbeard into a duel for the ship. If things go bad, Bella uses her lovely magic." Killian replied.

"I don't understand, why don't I use my magic right away?" Bella asked him.

"Because I want a chance to show Blackbeard what I'm made of." Killian smirked before he gave Bella a quick kiss and walked on his ship, calling everyone's attention.

About an hour later, Blackbeard and his cruse had left the ship while Bella, Killian and Smee sailed it away.

"Shouldn't we warn Snow White and the prince that we're moving up with the plan?" Smee asked.

"I did it while you and Killian prepared the ship. I used the mirror." Bella nodded.

A few hours later, the Jolly Roger was being sailed by his Captain, crossing the limit of the Enchanted Forest and allowing Bella to use a bean to get them back to the world without magic.

"I'm going to cast a spell on this ship so it'll look like a Yacht. I think it's best if Smee stays on board while we get Emma, Neal and Henry." Bella warned them once they left the portal and followed Bella's indication, which she got from her enchanted compass.

"Happily." Smee nodded.

Before they left the Jolly Roger, Bella made a set of more normal clothes appear for Killian and herself. She didn't want them to stand out and start raising questions. After that, they started walking and it took them an hour to arrive in front of Emma's building.

"Here. Swan-Cassidy. It should be them, right?" Killian asked Bella who nodded and pressed on the name.

"Who's there?" Emma asked.

"Emma? It's Bella and Killian." Bella said, hoping Rumpel would have managed to create friendly memories of them.

"Bella? It's been so long! Come on up. Third floor, apartment 311." Emma replied, buzzing the door open.

"She sounded excited... That's a good thing, right?" Bella asked Killian as they rode in the elevator.

"Of course it's a good thing. Don't worry, it'll go fine. We go in, talk. As soon as they offer to get us something to drink and get something for themselves, I distract them and you pour the potions." Killian reassured her, giving her a small kiss just as the elevator door opened.

The next few minutes were filled with welcoming hugs and "How are you"'s but once it was offer and the new couple was inevitably invited for dinner, everything calmed down and started to look easier. While Neal, Henry and Emma were in the kitchen bringing the food on the table, Bella poured the potion in their drinks and cast a simple spell on the little family to make them very thirsty.

As soon as the potion was ingested, the changes were very obvious on their faces.

"You got your hand back? How?" Neal asked Killian.

"I'm so happy you came back for us!" Emma exclaimed, hugging Bella.

After that, Bella and Killian did their best to explain the situation in the Enchanted Forest and how they'd have to fight the Wicked witch after coming back. They ended up deciding to leave the next morning and used the time they had to pack everything they wanted to take with them.

Henry seemed especially excited and insisted they needed to buy souvenirs for all of their friends before going back to the Enchanted Forest. The adults couldn't find good enough arguments not to do it so the next morning, on their way to the ship, they stopped and bought several bags full of gifts, along with fast-food to go for their lunch. Just so they could eat some burgers one more time before leaving.

Smee helped them unload Neal and Emma's car and put everything on the Jolly Roger.

"I'm going to miss the bug." Emma said, looking back at the little Yellow bug that she had driven to the docks.

"We won't be able to drive it in the Enchanted Forest but I could use magic to transport it inside the ship... You could always store it somewhere in your parents' castle." Bella suggested.

"I'd love that but I think I'll leave it here, with the keys. Whoever needs it will be able to use it this way." Emma replied.

"I'm going to miss this world... But I'm still happy to finally be going home." Neal said, looking once more time at the city.

"Are you ready then?" Killian asked.

"Yes, I think we're ready to go home." Emma replied after a few minutes.

.

The next day, when Killian sailed his ship toward the port city the closest to the Charming's castle, Bella gave Emma her mirror and let her warn her parents, who sounded very happy to hear from her. Neal of course did the same with his father who assured him that he and Belle would be waiting with the Charming's.

Bella knew that even though she had helped her friends go home and find their family, this wasn't a happy ending. not yet. She had lost love, and found it again, along with friends and family but this wasn't her happy ending. There would be more fights to come.

Zelena, the wicked witch, would need to be stopped and Blackbeard would probably try to get back at Killian for the humiliation he had to suffer but she was confident that they would be fine.

"You're coming back to the castle with us, right?" Bella asked Killian.

"Well, I'm not the Dark one's biggest fan but I understand that he's your family. If I want to be with you, I have to try and get along with him. I'm going wherever you're going." Killian assured her.

"Good, because I just found you and I'm not ready to lose you yet." Bella replied, looking at him intensely.

"You won't loose me. Don't worry." he replied.

Of course, everyone was waiting for Emma, Henry and Neal's return. It looked like all of their friends and loved ones were waiting for them on the docks.

"Cool, I won't have to carry my bags." Henry replied.

"Henry!" Emma exclaimed.

"What? It's true! They'll be so happy to see us they'll carry everything out." Henry replied.

"Actually, you're royalty so there will be guards and servants to do the carrying." Bella reminded them.

"Even better." Henry nodded, making his mother roll his eyes.

.

Much later, while Emma, Henry and Neal were with their parents, attending a ball to celebrate their return, Bella watched in amazement as Killian appeared in a perfect attire for such an event. Giving her all the right compliments and inviting her to dance a complicated waltz, making it, somehow, easy for her to understand it.

"This is magical." Bella told him without thinking, feeling the happiest she had ever been.

"Every moment with you is." He replied in her ear softly, making her blush.

"So, what's next Killian? Are we going out in the seas on the Jolly Roger?" She asked him.

"Well, I know that you're not really the pirating type and I honestly don't see myself in that man anymore. David, the Prince I mean, he had a proposition for me when I talked with him earlier this afternoon. I'm meeting up with him tomorrow but I think I'll do trading or missions of some sort for him on my ship. This way you'll be able to come with me or simply stay here and wait for me to come back." he told her.

"That's great!" She exclaimed, hugging him before they exchanged a soft kiss.

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><p><strong>So, this is it for now. May I'll pick it up and write a few more chapters after Christmas break, I'm not sure. It depends on my inspiration.<strong>

**Please leave me a review to tell me what you think of this story, if I should continue it and what you'd like the potential future chapters to be about.**

**Merry Christmas!**

**Lorelei Candice Black **


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